Inner Strength
by Boredone32
Summary: Dejected and Disheartened, Zuko gives up his chase for the Avatar after two wasted years at sea. When the world gives him a second chance, what will he do? Giving up one's life is tough, but he's already done it once before. "In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength." -Iroh, S2E5, Avatar Day.
1. Chapter 1

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 1**

**Author's Note: Hey everybody, what's up? This is my newest story: Inner Strength. It may start out a bit confusing, but I will quickly make my way into the necessary background information, and will fill in the gaps as the story progresses. It will be told from a Zuko prominent point of view (3****rd**** person, but following his story) until *mini spoiler warning* he joins the main group.**

**I'm kicking this story off on a high note, immediately copping out on the stuff that happens in episodes 1-3 in the show. Assume everything is the same on that end, but replace Zuko with Zhao.**

**Anyway, enough explaining, here is the first chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**-Boredone32**

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**XXXXXXXXXX**

She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, scanning quickly over the two or three occupants until she found the person she was looking for. She smiled to herself and rolled her eyes as she saw him staring off into space, completely lost in thoughts he refused to share with anyone.

As always.

The boy hadn't been in town longer than four months, but she was beginning to feel some sort of connection to him. He refused to admit it, but they had become good friends in the short time he had been staying with her, and she could tell he had come to see her as a surrogate family, despite his persistent denial.

She brushed his right shoulder as she took the seat next to him, her pale fingers clashing with the earthy brown color of his robes. "You know they say that if you stare at the ceiling too long it'll fall on you." she quipped, smiling as he turned to face her. He offered a playful half smile back, but it was the closest thing to a smile he ever gave anyone.

"Really? Who exactly are 'they'? I haven't ever heard that before." He turned back to his front and leaned on his elbows, which were propped on the bar table in front of him.

"Maybe that's because you stay here spacing out too much. I bet you would hear all sorts of things if you got outside once in a while." He snorted and his half smile turned into a smirk. He didn't have much room to argue with that point. They sat in silence for a moment before the girl changed the subject. "Your hair is getting long. Too lazy to leave the bar long enough to cut it?"

"It's an Inn. I'm drinking water and I work here." he replied, not denying her initial point. His hair had gotten long, but he wanted it that way. His dark brown hair nearly reached his neck in the back, and his bangs were long enough that he could see them, but not quite long enough to cover his eyes. He was considering growing the left side out to cover the large burn scar that marked that half of his face.

"Fine, whatever," the girl replied. "The point is that if it wasn't for me, you would never leave here and you wouldn't talk to anyone. Don't you get bored, Lee?" The boy turned back, staring into the girl's blue eyes, wearing a devious smirk on his face.

"But Suki, you are _more_ than enough to keep me entertained." The girl rolled her eyes and turned, huffing as she tried to force the blush to leave her cheeks. It wasn't like she was in a relationship with him, but Lee always seemed more than comfortable trying to make her… uncomfortable. And he was getting good at it.

"Very funny, but I'm serious." she replied, trying to keep the conversation on topic. "You've been here for nearly four months now and I doubt you even know more than ten people's names. It's a small village Lee, it wouldn't kill you to get out and meet everyone." Lee shrugged, immediately dismissing the suggestion.

"It might," he said. "A lot of these people don't like 'outsiders,' as they call us." Lee took a sip of his water before turning around, leaning back against the bar and using it as a back rest. Suki followed suit, if only to keep him from ending the conversation.

She had tried to get him to be more social a couple times before, but it was getting a bit ridiculous. "You aren't an outsider anymore. This is as much your home as it is mine." Lee scoffed in response and remained silent, so Suki decided it would be best to give up. "So… what have you been thinking about all day?" she asked, figuring she would get the typical dismissive answer.

"My home." he replied curtly, causing the girl to tense up.

In one of his rare moments of openness Lee had told her the story of how he came to Kyoshi Island. He told her that he had been living on a farm with his mother, father, and two brothers when a group of Fire Nation soldiers came through. The Fire Nation made a habit of stealing supplies from farms and towns as they went through, mostly just to cause more suffering to those who opposed them. Lee's farm was burnt down, and the rest of his family died in the fire. He told her that he got his scar when he was making his escape.

After he left the wreckage, Lee had travelled south, hoping to find some sort of refuge from the Fire Nation. He claimed he had 'seen more than enough war for one lifetime,' so when he heard about Kyoshi Island and how it had managed to avoid the war completely, he jumped on the nearest ferry and made his way there.

It wasn't exactly a happy memory, and Suki didn't like to press the matter. When he had showed up on the island, he was completely broke and had nothing on him but some clothes, a small amount of food, and a pair of broadswords he said were family heirlooms. He spent his first night at the inn, and the innkeeper offered him a job later that week.

Suki had been distrustful of him at first, and as the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, she felt responsible for making sure he didn't pose a threat. She offered to let him stay with her, as her parents had left a little over a year ago with her little sister, leaving Suki alone in the three bedroom house. She would have gone with her family to Ba Sing Se, where her father deemed it would be safer than the poorly defended island, but Suki couldn't bring herself to leave the Kyoshi Warriors.

After a couple of weeks, she and Lee had become friends, and he eventually told her the story of how he had come to the island.

Lee got out of his chair, snapping Suki from her thoughts as he made his way to the door. She caught up to him as they stepped outside, looking directly out into the bay. Lee stopped as Suki stepped up next to him, and she looked to see what he was staring at.

The sun was setting on the horizon, and the various hues of reds, oranges, and yellows reflected off the calm ocean, giving off the illusion of a fire dancing atop the glittering expanse of endless sea. She had seen the sun set over Kyoshi many times, but this was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen.

"My mother and I used to watch the sun set whenever we were near water." Lee said, smiling softly to himself. "She used to tell me that even something as dangerous and destructive as fire could be beautiful in its own way." Suki could see a deep sadness in his eyes, but all she could offer was a silent hand on his shoulder as a gesture of comfort.

Lee couldn't help but bitterly note that it was the first thing he had told Suki about his past that was actually true.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He couldn't sleep.

Hell, it was all he could do to force his eyes shut. Why did he have to have such a restless mind? It had been two and a half years since his banishment, and for four months Zuko had begun to leave his old life behind him. But all because Suki had to care about his past and he had to get all sentimental about a sunset, he was starting to feel guilty.

Once Zuko had gotten used to responding to the name Lee, living his life as an orphaned Earth Kingdom farm boy was simple. He kept to himself, worked all day, went to Suki's house, bantered with the girl for a while before going to bed, and then rinse and repeat. But now he was starting to actually like the girl. She seemed like she had started to genuinely care about him. Well, she had started to genuinely care about Lee.

And that was the issue.

For some reason, the more Zuko felt comfortable with her, the more he felt bad about lying to her. Of course, it wasn't like he had a choice. And Zuko wasn't exactly heartbroken about lying to someone, it was just annoying that the first person he really considered a friend didn't even know his name.

He almost wanted to tell her the truth, to get it all off of his chest and to stop living a lie, but that would most certainly not go over well. A Fire Nation citizen would have a hard time convincing the small island community that they had no ties to their homeland, especially considering how paranoid they were about staying away from the war at all costs. A firebender would have an infinitely smaller chance, and might even be executed on the spot.

So add being the banished prince of said Fire Nation to that, and Zuko knew he would be slaughtered before he finished announcing his real name. He could try to convince them that he was no longer part of the Fire Nation, and that he had no ties to their military, but he figured it wouldn't be much of a plausible argument, even if it was true.

Six months ago Zuko had just finished sailing around the world. He had scoured the entire globe, searching every possible corner and crevice, searching in vain to find a fable. After two years of desperation and painstaking search efforts, Zuko had grown sick of it. Too sick of it to keep it up.

He knew, deep down, that he wouldn't find the Avatar. Even if he did, he wasn't sure his father would really take him back. Sure, he had kept his hopes up long enough to give it time and waste his effort, but Zuko was nothing if not a realist. No one had seen the Avatar in a hundred years, and one small warship with a ragtag group of soldiers wasn't likely to break that trend. If he was able to stay hidden for that long, he wasn't about to be found by Zuko, assuming the Avatar even existed at all.

And so, ashamed, dishonored, and broken, Zuko gave up. He left in the middle of the night, leaving a note to his uncle as he left his old life behind, and set himself on starting over. He couldn't be the banished prince of the Fire Nation anymore, so he became Lee. He was smart enough to realize that the Fire Nation probably wasn't fond of him abandoning his mission, so Zuko decided to find a place that he could stay hidden from the Fire Nation.

That quickly left him with two options: Ba Sing Se and Kyoshi Island. The firebender had abandoned his ship in the southwest of the Earth Kingdom, so Kyoshi was a hell of a lot closer. And thus, his decision was made.

Once he had made his mind up, there was no turning back. Zuko couldn't afford to bring anything that could give away his identity, so he took a few supplies, his broadswords, and just enough money to buy some new clothes.

By the time he reached Kyoshi, Zuko's supplies had run dry, but luckily the innkeeper took pity on him. Zuko would never have taken charity from someone as poor as a small town peasant, but Lee didn't have much of a choice. He had thought about offering to do some manual labor, like fixing roofs or repairing run down houses, but he figured that his story of being a farm boy wouldn't hold up if people saw his lack of skill in such areas.

Luckily, the innkeeper offered him a way out, giving him a job running the bar. There were usually only one or two customers per day, so Lee would have felt bad taking up a room for such little work. This time it was Suki who came to his aid, offering him a free stay at her place in exchange for help maintaining the place.

He knew that she was trying to see if he was trustworthy, but Lee wasn't going to complain if it got him a free place to stay. By the time Suki had grown to trust him, the two had become accustomed to each other's company, so Suki let him stay permanently. That was what led to the friendship that was now the cause of all of Zuko's stress.

He had never had trouble lying to her before, but the more she prodded and tried to learn more about him, the more he wanted to let her. He hadn't had someone to confide in since he had left his uncle, and, as much as he hated to admit it, even Zuko couldn't live out his life in complete isolation.

Zuko knew he had a decision to make. He was either going to have to live with constant guilt and insomnia, or he was going to have to leave Suki, Kyoshi Island, and yet another life, behind him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Lee sighed as he dried the last of the mugs at the bar for the third time that day. Washing dishes over and over again at least gave him the satisfaction of doing something. There had been no travelers for the past week, and even the bar's regulars seemed to be avoiding the place for some reason or another.

He turned as someone burst through the front door. Suki came running in, a look of excitement etched onto her face. Lee was about to ask what was going on when Suki spoke up, slightly winded from sprinting.

"We captured some kids that were hanging around the bay. Turns out one of them is the Avatar! Come on!" She waved Lee along, but he was frozen in shock. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly, confusion etched into every line on his face.

By the time he processed Suki's claim, she was already out the door, making her way back to the main square. Lee set down the glass and followed her, walking slowly as he tried to think of what to do.

He had just been getting comfortable with being an Earth Kingdom peasant for the rest of his life, and then the Avatar, who he had spent two years searching for, finds him. It seemed like one of the spirits really enjoyed toying with him, but Lee wasn't one to wallow in self-pity. Neither was Zuko, and at the moment, he wasn't exactly sure which one of the two would be confronting the Avatar when he reached the square.

It wasn't like he had any means of capturing the Master of all four elements, but he refused to dismiss the idea completely. There was no sense in slamming shut doors the universe had seen fit to open for him. Unfortunately, the way he saw it, Zuko had two options.

First, forsake his new life and newfound friend for a most-likely-futile effort to single-handedly capture the world's most powerful bender. Then manage to get away from the many angry and betrayed residents of the island. And finally, take the world's most powerful bender across the ocean without access to any sort of self-powered ship to aid him.

The second option was to ignore the Avatar completely, continue trying to forget about all the things that potentially awaited him back at the Fire Nation, and live out his life as Lee, the bored-out-of-his-skull bartender.

Before he managed to make any headway on actually picking one of the two options, Zuko was interrupted by the sight of the Avatar. The one hundred and twelve year old Avatar who was… a kid. A short, bald, little kid who was currently floating marbles between his hands and smiling like an idiot.

Zuko almost broke out into laughter.

He wasn't sure if he was more fascinated by the irony of the whole thing, or by the fact that he actually had a shot at beating the boy in a fight. There was no way someone that young had mastered more than one element. Since he was the Avatar, Zuko figured there might be a miniscule chance of him having mastered two, but it seemed highly unlikely.

"Crazy, isn't it?" Suki's voice drew him from his musings, and Lee quickly jumped back into character.

"Uh, yeah. I thought the Avatar would be… older." Suki laughed in agreement.

"You should have seen him earlier. He was riding the koi fish." Lee turned with a look of skepticism, but Suki showed no signs of lying whatsoever.

_She has got to be joking,_ he thought, shaking his head. _The Avatar, the most powerful bender in the world, the one thing supposedly standing between the Fire Nation and victory in the war, was riding koi fish. She has _got_ to be joking._

As Zuko watched the boy continue to spin his marbles, he knew for a fact that Suki was not joking.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The Avatar had been in Kyoshi for a couple of days, and Zuko had been doing his best to inconspicuously observe the boy and his little group. The older boy, Sokka, as Suki had informed him, had been spending his time trying to learn some fighting from Suki and the other warriors. The girl kept mostly to herself, and spent a lot of time in their room in the upper parts of the inn. Zuko had seen her in the lobby a couple of times, but hadn't bothered trying to start a conversation.

The Avatar himself had spent most of his time goofing off and showing off to a group of young girls that lived on the island, and Zuko couldn't help but think that the kid was taunting him. Zuko had worked his ass off for years in search of this kid, who was nonchalantly doing airbending pushups and soaking in attention from little girls rather than focusing on the war.

Zuko had begun to notice that the girl that was travelling with the Avatar seemed to share his distaste for the Avatar's time use, and decided he would try to get a little insight as to what he would be potentially up against.

He followed the girl to the market, and stayed back while she was buying some food. As the girl turned to leave the stall, he made his move. Acting like he wasn't paying attention, Zuko bumped into her shoulder, knocking her supplies over.

"I'm so sorry," he said, trying to sound sincere as he began helping her pick things up.

"It's alright, I should've watched where I was going." she replied, smiling as he gave her the gourd she had dropped.

"No, no. It was completely my fault… hey wait a minute." He said, praying his acting wasn't as bad as it sounded to himself. The girl raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You're travelling with the Avatar, right?" The girl looked annoyed, as though she was jealous that her friend was getting all the attention. Zuko smirked to himself, this was going to be easier than he had thought.

"Yeah, I am. And before you ask, no, I don't know where he has run off to."

"I wasn't going to," he replied. "I'm sure he's getting enough attention from all those little kids that have been chasing him around." The girl scoffed, confirming Zuko's suspicions that she was jealous. "I'm Lee, by the way." he said, reaching out his hand.

She smiled and shook it. "Katara."

"It's nice to meet you, Katara," Zuko said, starting to get annoyed at his own pleasantness. "Could I help you carry that? I work at the inn you guys are staying at and was already heading back that way." Katara smiled again and nodded, grateful for the offer. "You have quite an interesting name," Zuko said as he took the food from her.

"Yeah, I'm from the Southern Water Tribe."

Zuko's eyes narrowed. He had searched the South Pole, how did he miss the Avatar in such a barren place? Of course, he hadn't exactly been searching for a twelve year old, so that may have contributed to it. "The South Pole, huh? Is that where the Avatar has been hiding this past century?" Zuko asked, trying to sound playful.

"Funny you should ask," Katara answered, walking alongside him as they made their way toward the inn. "My brother and I actually found him frozen in a block of ice a couple of weeks ago. I think he was in there for one hundred years. He didn't even know there was a war going on." Zuko did his best not to show any signs of his surprise, but he was fairly sure he stumbled a bit as they walked.

"I guess that would explain how he is still just a kid after all these years." Zuko mused, half to himself.

"Yeah, if I hadn't seen him go into the Avatar State when we were fighting that commander I wouldn't really believe that he's supposedly the most powerful bender in the world. It seems so crazy when you see him playing around."

"You guys had a run-in with the Fire Nation?" Zuko asked, trying not to sound too interested. They entered the inn and began making their way up the stairs as they talked.

"Yep. Some guy with huge sideburns found Aang at the South Pole and took him away. My brother and I took his flying bison and managed to get him out." Suki had mentioned the flying bison to Zuko earlier, though he was convinced they were all making stuff up. It wasn't exactly the important thing though, as Zuko only knew one man that was commonly defined by his sideburns. _Zhao._

"Sounds pretty insane." Zuko mumbled absently, lost in his own thoughts. If Zhao was after this little kid and his friends it was only a matter of time before someone else captured him. Then Zuko would have no chance of redeeming himself in the eyes of his father, and his old life would be gone for good. This was a fate Zuko had resigned himself to not one week earlier, but with his newfound hope came a new desire, and his determination had been restored. He needed to figure out a way to capture the Avatar soon, or he wouldn't even have the option.

He vaguely noticed that Katara was saying something as he set down all of the food she had bought. He turned to ask her to repeat herself when one of the Kyoshi Warriors burst through the door.

"Katara!" the girl cried frantically. "Come quick! It's the Fire Nation!"

Zuko's eyes widened as Katara and the warrior bolted out the door. He was useless to fight without his bending, and as far as anyone knew he had no skill with swords either. Showing off his swordsmanship could potentially blow his cover. Letting Zhao capture the Avatar would ruin his chances of doing the same, and being seen by Zhao would probably end in a worst fate than being executed by the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation's presence on Kyoshi meant a lot of things for Zuko, and none of them were good.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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**A/N: So this is kind of a Prologue. I say kind of because it is a full chapter, and ties directly to the story, but at the same time, I am only releasing it now to get a feel for it. I intend to wait a while before posting new chapters as I want to get a bit ahead so I can update with some regularity. That said, it would be nice to get a second opinion or two on this. It has been a while since I have done anything on this site, and it felt a bit rough writing it. Reading over it again it didn't seem as bad, but I feel off somehow. **

**Anyway, lemme know what you thought of either the writing itself or the story (or, if you're feeling particularly awesome, both) and I'll try my best to improve it as I go along. Not to be that guy, but if I get enough opinions for this I'll get the next chapter up ASAP rather than waiting until I am a bit further into the story, as potential encouragement for some outside opinions.**

**Sorry for the blocky A/N's, I promise they will be shorter in the future. Thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear what you thought.**

**Thanks,**

**-Boredone32**


	2. Chapter 2

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 2**

**Author's Note: Uh, wow. This was far better received than I had expected, and I really appreciate all the people who took the time to review or let me know what they thought. You guys rock!**

**Anyway, this is out much faster than I was expecting, but the updates will be slowing down in the future, I promise.**

**Without further ado, here is chapter two!**

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**XXXXXXXXXX**

_Zuko groaned as his uncovered eye adjusted to the bright light. It was his first time leaving the ship since he had been banished, and after two weeks of brooding alone in his dimly lit room, his eyes had grown accustomed to very little light going through. Iroh jovially bounded up beside his nephew, taking a deep breath of the fresh air._

"_The Western Air Temple." he remarked emphatically, gesturing around at the worn down pillars and empty hallways. "It's even more beautiful than I had heard."_

_Zuko grunted and pushed ahead, ignoring his uncle's annoyingly excited attitude and focusing instead on his mission. "It's desolate and broken down. How is that beautiful?" His voice was barely at an audible level, but Iroh was just glad his nephew was talking again. He had spent the first ten days of his banishment in utter silence._

"_You aren't looking at it the right way." Iroh started, trailing behind Zuko as the boy began roaming through the halls, looking for any sign of life. "You have to step back and appreciate it for what it is. This entire society, carved out of the side of a canyon. It is truly a sight to behold."_

"_It's covered in nothing but plants and dust, Uncle." Zuko replied curtly, turning into a room and quickly checking to confirm that it too was empty._

"_Which makes it all the more amazing. The way nature can prevail even without humans to guide it. It's very… eye-opening." Iroh finished, immediately cringing at his poor word choice. Zuko paused briefly, but made no other acknowledgment of his uncle's blunder._

_The rest of the search was carried out in silence, much to Zuko's relief. He just wanted to find the Avatar and go home. Of course, the chances of finding the Avatar in a place as obvious as the Western Air Temple was small, but Zuko wasn't willing to tempt fate by not checking it out for himself._

_After a couple hours of tearing through abandoned rooms and scouring every inch of the desolate meditation rooms, Zuko was finally satisfied that he and his uncle were the only people in the temple. He found his uncle brewing tea over a small fire in one of the open areas overlooking the canyon._

"_No one's here," Zuko said, the disappointment in his voice all too obvious. "Let's get moving." Iroh motioned for Zuko to have a seat, and after glaring at the older man's back for a few seconds, Zuko realized it was best to just give in and listen to whatever tea-based anecdote his uncle had planned for him._

_Iroh handed his nephew a cup of tea, which the prince promptly discarded in an act of petulance. "I thought we could take advantage of such beautiful scenery to restart your training, Prince Zuko." The firebender groaned in annoyance. He wanted to keep moving, he could train on the ship, and, frankly, he still wasn't exactly feeling up to the task of training again. _

"_I'm tired, Uncle. I can train on the ship, which, by the way, is still waiting for us." Iroh smiled lightly, knowing how eager his young nephew was to get back to his search, but realizing that the boy was likely nowhere near ready to face down the Avatar._

"_This isn't a very physical lesson." Iroh said, removing the pot he had been boiling water in from its place above the fire. "It's more of a lesson of the mind, and spirit." Zuko groaned audibly, frustrated with all of his uncle's spiritual nonsense. "You have to realize," Iroh continued, unfazed by his nephew's protest, "that bending is more than just a physical ability."_

_Zuko rolled his good eye. He wanted to leave, but he knew better than to try and argue with his uncle about such matters. The prince resigned himself to trudging through the lesson, and decided a couple of extra minutes couldn't hurt his search too badly._

"_I want you to focus on your breathing. Your power comes from the breath when you bend, so it is important to maintain balance, and control." Zuko had heard this a million times, and was getting less and less patient the more his uncle babbled about lessons even the most novice firebenders had mastered. "Feel the fire synchronize with your breathing; feel yourself maintaining its balance, and control." _

_That was enough. Zuko got up and shrugged off his uncle's lesson, angrily turning back toward the ship. "I know how to meditate uncle, and I don't have time for it. I need to find the avatar, and being able to breathe is the least of my concerns if I want to do so. We are leaving. Now."_

_Iroh smirked at the forceful tone in his nephew's voice, if only because it meant that some of the boy's passion and determination had returned. He remained seated however, calmly taking a deep breath to show Zuko what he had meant._

"_This is not such a simple lesson, Nephew. I'll demonstrate." Iroh breathed out, causing the flames to shoot up and set some of the nearby foliage ablaze. Zuko's eye widened, and he started to wonder if his uncle was trying to kill him. "You see nephew, fire is a dangerous element. Without proper guidance, it can easily burn out of control. As a firebender, you have the power to maintain that control, even when the flames have left your power."_

_Zuko would have been confused as to how he was supposed to control something he didn't have power over, but he was too busy being worried that he was going to burn to death. Just as he was about to turn and get out of there, the flames stopped spreading, and begin to move in rhythm with his uncle's breathing once again. "Even fire that you did not create can be bent and kept under control, but only if you can maintain control over yourself first." The fire was slowly dying down as Iroh continued his breathing, using a basic defensive stance to help it along. _

"_This is very much like in our own lives, nephew. We can be put into situations we have no power over, but as long as we maintain balance, we are always in control of our own decisions and our own actions." The old man smiled as the fire died down to merely a small flicker that rested in his palm. _

_Zuko couldn't decide whether he was amazed at such a unique form of firebending than he was used to seeing, or if he was embarrassed that his uncle had managed to use his impatience to teach him a lesson about patience._

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He could feel the familiar sensation of adrenaline coursing through his body. He was ready to fight, ready to attack, but he had to still his restless body. It had been months since he had been able to bend at all, and he was just figuring out what people meant when they said that bending was a part of one's self.

Zuko wanted nothing more than to run outside and join the fray, but he knew he couldn't do it. He wasn't even sure which side he would be joining, but he knew that fighting was not an option. Zuko fought. Lee didn't.

Shaking his head, Zuko forced himself outside and tried his best to calmly analyze his surroundings. The air was tense, and he could feel that a fight was about to take place. This feeling usually meant excitement, but all he was feeling was anxiousness. If Zhao burned the village down or got a hold of him, Zuko's life as Lee would be over. And he was completely powerless to do anything about it.

As much as he admired Suki as a leader, he wasn't sure that she and her band of female warriors would be enough to take on Zhao and his men. The Avatar was too much of a wild card for Zuko to make a judgment on, which only added to his concern.

He breathed deeply, waiting with anticipation for something to happen. Near the base of the village, a blur of reddish brown began making its way toward the houses. Zuko had to squint to figure out that it was Zhao's men and their mounts, large Komodo Rhinos. Zuko could make out four of the beasts, and he assumed there would be two riders on each. Knowing Zhao, at least half of them would be benders.

Zuko noticed a blur of motion on one of the rooftops, and saw Suki coordinating her warriors for a surprise attack. It was a smart idea, but Zuko wasn't sure it would be enough. What concerned him the most, though, was the fact that the Avatar was nowhere to be found.

As Zhao and his men pulled up parallel to the first of the houses, the warriors struck, diving from the rooftops at their opponents. The first two hit their mark, knocking out two of the riders and sending their mounts into a fury. Half of Zhao's men were taken out with one strike, and Zuko's hopes soared. As the two warriors regained their feet, however, the other soldiers were on top of them, and the fighting erupted. Zuko was too far away to clearly discern what was going on, but it was quickly made obvious that the Kyoshi Warriors were outclassed. Trained and armored soldiers were more than enough for the small group, and the bending rendered their fans and close range attacks nearly useless.

Zuko cringed as Zhao sent two of the warriors flying, one of which he could have sworn was Suki. "Ha!" Zhao roared as the dust began to settle, revealing the unconscious mass of Kyoshi Warriors behind the two remaining rhinos. "Sending a group of little girls to fight for you, Avatar? This is truly pathetic!"

Zhao laughed, and Zuko could feel himself losing control as fury began to take him over. Just as he was losing his ability to stay back, the Avatar flew in, landing a few hundred feet away from Zhao.

"I don't want to fight anyone!" the boy yelled, causing Zuko to cringe. How was he supposed to end a war if he wouldn't even fight a group of four soldiers?

"Too bad." Zhao roared, springing forward and blasting two large streams of fire in the Avatar's direction. He waved his staff, deflecting the blows into separate nearby buildings. Zuko noted that the whole village was starting to burn down, and quickly realized that he could at least do something to make himself useful.

He took off toward the burning buildings, trying to find any of the citizens of the village and get them to safety. He saw that Katara was doing the same thing, and in a moment of princely pride, he felt bitter about having the same role as the Avatar's little follower girl. Shaking the feeling off, Zuko turned his attention back to helping get people to safety. He guided a few of the younger girls out of a house just as it was starting to catch fire.

Once he was sure that the villagers were safe, Zuko turned his attention back to the battle. As he stood watching, Katara joined his side, a look of worry etched on her face. "I think that's everyone," she said, gesturing to the villagers. Zuko nodded in response, without actually turning to acknowledge her or the others. He was too focused on the battle to pay attention to anything else.

"I don't understand how he found us. He wasn't following us when we were flying; we could see around for miles." Zuko merely huffed in acknowledgement, not pointing out the fact that tracking a large flying bison couldn't possibly be too hard or the fact that the Avatar and his friends had been in the same place far too long for people on the run. He couldn't expect the group of three kids to have the military sense of a trained soldier, so he held his tongue.

"I'm going to try to help him." Katara said, looking determined and starting forward.

Zuko reached out his arm to stop her, causing her to look back to him in anger. "You can't. That guy is too powerful for you. Let the Avatar handle it." Katara pushed his arm back, but Zuko didn't let her go.

"I can't let him get hurt! Let me go!" she cried, straining to break free of his grip.

"You'll just get in the way!" Zuko yelled, grabbing her arms and pulling her to face him. She swallowed nervously, and Zuko realized he had probably scared her. He loosed his hold, but didn't let her go. "If he is going to be able to save the world from the Fire Nation, he is going to need to be strong enough to beat one soldier in an even fight." he reasoned, his voice far more calm than before.

"Aang isn't a soldier!" she replied, shaking free of his grip, but making no move to join the fight. "He's just a kid."

Something in her voice prevented him from forming any argument, so he tried his best to think of a plan. Nothing was coming to mind, but as a small flying monkey creature landed on Katara's soldier, Zuko got an idea.

"You don't need to fight." he said, causing Katara to look at him in confusion. "You guys can run; leave on your… flying bison" he said, still not sure if he believed the creature really existed. "He'll follow you guys and leave the village alone. And I imagine being able to fly over land gives you a massive advantage, since he is tracking you by water."

Katara thought about it for a moment, before deciding that he was probably right. She nodded as her eyes set into a look of determination. "I'll try to talk to Aang. Can you find my brother?"

Zuko nodded hesitantly, not sure when he had last seen the water tribe boy. Katara took off and Zuko made his way behind the burning buildings toward the battle ground. He couldn't see anyone wearing blue clothing, but all of the injured Kyoshi Warriors had managed to get away from the rest of the fight. He searched frantically, wondering if the boy was even near the village, when he remembered a conversation he had had with Suki earlier in the week.

She had told him that the Water Tribe boy had been shocked when he learned that his captors were all women. After Suki embarrassed him during a few of the boy's attempts at showing off, he had asked to train with the warriors. Suki had said that she kind of felt bad about it, but she made the boy wear the formal dress as a bit of revenge.

After scanning the warriors for a few seconds, Zuko managed to find the boy by his hairstyle, which had struck Zuko as hilarious when he had first seen it. The combination Mohawk and Ponytail was something Zuko had never seen before, but he was glad that it was so… unique.

"You're with the Avatar, right?" Zuko asked, helping the boy to his feet.

"Yeah, why?" the boy responded in a voice that made no sense considering his current attire. Zuko laughed inwardly, but kept his composure as he explained what was going on. A large crash in a nearby home surprised them both, interrupting Zuko midway through.

They ran to the sound, both praying silently that the young Avatar hadn't been incapacitated already. They found the boy standing next to Katara, and Sokka joined them as they took off to find Appa.

Zuko stood still for a moment, watching as the only potential connection to his old life left, quite possibly forever. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to accept that he had no other choice at the moment, and then turned his attention to the injured warriors. After making sure that none of them were at risk of dying, Zuko found Suki lying on the other side of the main square. He propped her up on her back, checking to make sure she was alive.

Her eyes opened slowly, and Zuko could tell she was in a lot of pain as the girl tried her best to get to her feet. Normally he would tell her to rest, but Zuko knew Suki well enough to realize that she was far more concerned with the others than she was with herself.

He helped her to her feet and walked her to the other warriors, ducking behind the closest building just as Zhao ordered his men to retreat back to the ship. They watched as the Avatar and his friends left on his flying bison, which Zuko was still having a tough time wrapping his mind around. Zuko noticed that the village was still largely on fire, save the training building and the inn, where most of the villagers were currently holed up.

The Avatar seemed to have notice too, as the boy dove off of his bison and into the water. At first Zuko wondered if he had fallen, but when the boy came back up, he was on top of the Unagi. It wasn't exactly a creature that looked fun to ride, but the young airbender seemed to manage. Suddenly the serpent's mouth opened, spraying what Zuko prayed was water all over the town, immediately extinguishing the burning buildings and leaving Zuko and the warriors soaked in water.

"So, the Avatar thinks he can just run away, does he?" Zuko heard Zhao growl. "I'll teach him."

Zuko's eyes widened as he snuck around to the front of the house, watching as Zhao's rhino made its way toward the inn, and away from his ship. "Suki!" he called over his shoulder. "I think he's going after the inn. He's going to burn it down with the entire village inside." The entire group of warriors froze in shock, and it was obvious by the looks on their faces that none of them were in any shape to fight. Suki got up and tried to will herself toward the inn, but there was no chance she would make it in time.

Zuko took off, sprinting after the rhino, but taking care to stay out of Zhao's sight. The commander sprayed fire across the doorway, barring any of the people from escaping. He then took a deep breath, and shot a wave of fire at the top of the wooden building, immediately setting it ablaze. Zuko drew his dagger from his belt, glad he hadn't given up everything from his old life, and cut along the beast's hind leg.

The cut wasn't deep enough to severely injure the rhino, but it was more than enough to send it into a fury, which caused it to take off, bucking and roaring, back away from the inn. Zuko turned his attention to the screams coming from inside the inn, and he frantically searched for a way to get the occupants out before the roof crashed down on their heads or they died from a lack of oxygen.

That didn't leave him much time.

The upper windows were already on fire, and the entire front was still blocked off by a wall of fire. The rear exits had been boarded up as they were under repairs, but Zuko figured they could break them down if necessary. He had to assume something else was preventing them from leaving that way, as no one had come out, and the panic coming from inside was growing louder with each second.

He realized there was only one way to get everyone out alive.

Zuko took in a deep breath, both to calm and focus his mind and to resign himself to revealing a secret he had hoped to keep hidden. He outstretched his arms, focusing all of his attention on his breathing and the flames that continued burning out of control ahead of him. The fire was huge, and Zuko really hadn't practiced this much, especially recently, but he didn't have a choice. He forced himself to stay focused on his task, rather than whether or not he had the ability to do it.

As he continued his slow, rhythmic breathing, Zuko could feel the flames slowly began bending to his will. The more control he felt the more he focused, and soon he could feel the entirety of the blaze breathing with himself. He tuned out the screaming of the people inside, and focused solely on bringing the flames down.

With each breath the flames dropped, receding lower and lower until he could see some of the villagers huddled inside. Zuko felt his concentration slip, but just managed to maintain control over the dying flames. After a few more focused breaths, the flames were gone, leaving Zuko standing alone, surrounded by the stares of the entire village.

Zuko couldn't look up, couldn't meet their gaze, so he settled for standing in a tense silence that seemed to go on forever. The one person he was praying hadn't seen was the one to break the silence.

"You…" Suki stuttered, tears forming at her eyes as she stood a few yards behind him. "Y-you're a… firebender?" Zuko swallowed hard, unable to turn and face the heartbroken girl.

"Of course he is." came an arrogant, malicious voice. This one drew Zuko's attention, and as he turned to face Zhao, all traces of Lee had vanished completely. The banished prince drew into a fighting stance as he glared at the older firebender. "You mean he didn't tell you?" Zhao asked sarcastically, reveling in the startled look of the villagers and the nervous, angry look in Zuko's eyes. "He used to be Prince of the Fire Nation, actually." Zhao smirked as bewildered gasps and hushed whispers made their way around the crowd.

"I had hoped you were dead, _Prince Zuko._" Zhao spat, still not taking a stance of his own.

"How could you do this?" Suki cried, breaking Zuko's focus and causing him to relax his stance slightly. "I thought we were friends. How could you betray us all like this?" Her voice had gone from hurt to angry, and Zuko couldn't help but feel sorry.

"I never meant to hurt any of you." he replied, still not breaking eye contact with Zhao.

"Liar!" she yelled, preventing him from continuing. "How can we believe anything you say?"

Zuko shook his head and sighed, knowing it would be pointless to argue with her. He was out of options, and couldn't see any way out.

"Well now, Zuko." Zhao started, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "If you really never wanted to hurt these people, I suppose I have a deal to offer you." Zuko's eyebrow raised, and he allowed himself to relax, nodding for Zhao to continue. "My men and I will leave this village alone, provided that you would be so kind as to accompany us."

Zuko knew how Zhao operated. The man was only polite if he was addressing the Firelord himself, or if he had something excessively sinister in mind. His tone sent a chill down Zuko's spine, but Zhao couldn't possibly harm him. He may have been banished, but he was still Prince of the Fire Nation. Sure he had disappeared for a while, but he would just say he had been captured, and his father would surely forgive the absence.

And yet he was still worried. Zhao's arrogant smile made him nervous beyond belief, but he didn't have much of a choice.

"Alright, Zhao. You win." he said, raising his arms in surrender. "I'll go with you."

Zuko grunted as one of Zhao's men forced him to the ground and bound his wrists, and when he looked up to see Zhao's face, the man's smile sent a feeling of sheer terror throughout his entire body.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: And that was Chapter 2. Hope you liked it, and once again, I appreciate any and all feedback. The opening scene was a flashback (though I think that's fairly obvious), and I intend to use those to fill in points in Zuko's banishment that led to his decision to leave the Fire Nation, but usually they will be relevant to the chapter. I won't put them all at the start of chapters, as this one sort of gave away a later part of the chapter, but whatever.**

**Thanks again for reading,**

**-Boredone32**


	3. Chapter 3

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 3**

**Author's Note: When I was trying to make a revision to Chapter 2 the other day I accidentally submitted it as a new chapter, so I am sorry for people who got emails about a Chapter 3. This, however, is the actual Chapter 3.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews, I appreciate the feedback. Enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Zuko stumbled onto the deck of the ship as two of Zhao's men roughly pushed him along. Zhao was walking ahead of him, and the prince could not shake the lingering dread that seemed to be worsening with every passing second. "Alright Zhao," he started, projecting as much confidence into his voice as he could. "We're out of their sight now. You can let me go now." Zhao stopped walking, turning slowly to look back at his captive, a look of intrigue etched onto his sideburn framed face.

After a moment of simply staring down the prince in silence, Zuko continued. "I may be banished, Zhao," he said, his voice returning fully to its former, more arrogant tone. "But I _am _still the Prince, and whether you like it or not, I am still fully entitled to the rights that gives me." Zhao's left eyebrow raised in amusement as he stood in silence for a few seconds, letting Zuko's words sink in.

Then he broke out into laughter.

Zuko's good eye began to twitch as Zhao spent the next half minute laughing at a joke Zuko hadn't meant to tell. "What's so funny?" he demanded, finally fed up with the older man's antics.

Zhao stepped forward, leaning in close to Zuko's face and staring him directly in the eyes. "You want the _rights_ you are entitled to?" Zhao asked, too softly for Zuko's liking. The prince's lip quivered, as if he was trying not to bare his teeth at the man. "Fair enough." Zhao finished, relaxing back into a standing position.

A couple more seconds passed without anything happening, and Zuko was about to command them to release him again, when Zhao stepped forward. Planting on his right foot, Zhao swung his left knee with full force right into Zuko's gut, causing the prince to double over in pain as much as the men holding his still-bound hands would let him. After a second of coughing and catching his breath, Zuko was aware of Zhao's hand on the back of his head. He pulled his face up by his hair, forcing the prince to stare at him again.

All pretense of peace was gone from Zhao's features. His stare was one of hatred and malice, and Zuko would have cringed had he not been so angry himself. The firebenders glared at each other as Zuko fought to catch his breath, still reeling from the blow to his stomach.

"I promise you, _Prince Zuko_, you'll get everything you're _entitled_ to. And I look forward to making you suffer."

Zuko was too stunned to respond, confused as to when Zhao had become daring enough to threaten and beat a member of the royal family. It was no secret that Zhao had hated him; the commander had practically called Zuko a spoiled child right to his face on more than one occasion throughout the first years of the banishment. But to beat a member of the royal family, no matter how dishonored they may be, was a serious crime.

"Take him to his room. I have some things to attend to, and then I'll be down to _entertain_ our new guest." Zhao ordered the two guards. They wordlessly pushed Zuko forward, ignoring his weak attempts at resisting.

"What are you doing?" Zuko yelled angrily, struggling against his captors. "You'll pay for this Zhao! When my father hears of this… you'll be sorry!"

He continued to struggle as the two guards led him down to the bowels of Zhao's warship.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

It had only been ten minutes since Zhao's men had left him alone in the cell, but to Zuko, it felt like he had been there for hours. The room was maybe ten feet by eight feet, and there was nothing but three solid walls and one with bars and a door. It was dark, damp, and dreary, matching the young prince's mood to the letter. The guards had thrown him in with his hands bound, causing him to land painfully on his chin. It had taken quite a bit of effort to work his way into a sitting position, though it did little to provide any comfort.

The longer he sat, the more his temper flared, and if he could bend from his eyes, the bars of his cell would have been a puddle of molten metal mere minutes after he had begun his staring contest with them. The only sound he could hear was the slow lurching of the ship as it rocked back and forth across the waves, and the constant dripping of a leak he prayed was coming from another cell. Based on the amount of water currently seeping into the seat of his pants, Zuko doubted he was that fortunate.

He heard the shuddering of a metal door above him, then a small group of footsteps slowing descending in his direction. There were at least four men, and Zuko was fairly certain one of the chattering voices was Zhao's. As the door to the cellblock opened and the entourage walked into his sights, Zuko's suspicions were confirmed, and he practically snarled at his captor as the man came into view.

"What do you think you're doing, Zhao?" Zuko growled, earning nothing but a look of amusement from the older man. "My father will have your head for this! He-"

Zhao slammed his fist into the door of the cell, cutting Zuko off mid-sentence. "Don't be so naïve." He started, glaring at the bound firebender before him. "The only reason I intend to keep you alive is so your father can have the pleasure of executing you himself."

"You're insane!" Zuko yelled back, even more furious than before.

"Oh please. You already know he sent out an order to have you killed." Zuko's eyebrow lifted slightly in confusion, but his glare didn't falter.

"What are you talking about, Zhao? My father banished me, he didn't want me dead."

"Don't play stupid," Zhao said rolling his eyes. As he observed Zuko closer, he realized the prince showed no signs of lying. "Your Uncle warned you that your father was going to have you killed, and that's why you abandoned your mission."

At this Zuko's gaze softened, his eyes widening in confusion. "What are you talking about? There was no order for me to be killed. What game are you trying to play?"

Zhao started laughing as he realized the prince really had no idea. "So you really didn't know? Then I guess your esteemed uncle is rotting away in prison for nothing. Well, I suppose I should explain. See, after two years of failed searching, your father figured he had given you more than enough time to get at least some results. Since you hadn't, he decided to have you killed, away from the shores of the Fire Nation. His plan was to claim that it was an Earth Kingdom attack, which would help further the people's resolve _and_ allow your sister to take your rightful claim to the throne. Firelord Ozai always thought that you were far too weak to be a ruler, and I, for one, couldn't agree more."

"You're lying!" Zuko yelled, practically fuming as Zhao merely smirked tauntingly.

"Am I? You know deep down that your father never loved you." Zhao sneered, enjoying the pain slowly creeping into the prince's eyes.

"Shut up!"

"Your sister was always better in his eyes."

"Shut up!" Zuko cried furiously, closing his eyes and shaking his head, as though he was trying to rid himself of the words by brute force.

"You know he was just waiting for an excuse to be rid of you. Why else would he banish his own son?"

"Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP!" Zuko roared, his anger causing steam to spring up from the soaking floor.

"You were always second best. Pathetic and weak."

Zuko's eyes snapped open and he glared at Zhao, a look of pure malice on his face. "Let me out of here and I'll show you who's weak." he threatened.

Zhao slowly and deliberately opened the cell door before walking straight up to the prince, never breaking eye contact. "No." he said simply, smirking at the prince's expression of hatred and rage. "No I don't think I will."

The other men walked into the cell and grabbed his arms. Zuko knew he was in some serious trouble.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He blinked slowly, trying to adjust to the small ray of light peeking through a window at the top of his cell. His mind was barely working, but it was able to process that he was in a lot of pain. Everything hurt, and Zuko wasn't sure if the liquid soaking his shirt was more blood or water. His hands were still bound, though he noticed the shackles had been tightened, to the point that he could feel the rusty metal digging into his skin.

Groaning, he tried to force his way back into a sitting position, mostly to get his face out of the pool of water it was lying in. He failed miserably, barely forcing his neck half an inch into the air before he crumpled back down to the floor. The impact sent even more pain into his face and head, but it was like adding a teardrop into the midst of a vast ocean. For a moment he wasn't even sure that he still had both of his legs, but after a few seconds of struggling to turn his head, he was grateful to see that all of his limbs were still attached. His shirt was in tatters, and his chest was completely covered in cuts, bruises, and burns, many of which looked like they would be adding to his scar count.

After a few minutes of allowing himself to recover, Zuko finally had the strength to try sitting again. He managed on his second try, and discovered that his right arm was likely broken along the way. Most of what had happened was a blur, but from what Zuko could remember, he had been a punching bag for at least an hour before he actually passed out. Whether it was from the pain, bleeding, or repeated blows to the head he couldn't be sure, but he knew for a fact that he had received plenty of each.

And whenever he got the chance, he would make Zhao pay.

"You're awake," said a voice to his left. He turned slowly, trying in vain not to agitate his neck. He saw a guard sitting on a chair just outside his cell. Based on the book he was holding and the blanket and pillow, Zuko assumed that the man was his new babysitter. He was a chubbier guard, likely placed there because he wouldn't be of use anywhere else. His voice was emotionless and apathetic, and the man gave no signs of feeling bad for the teen's condition whatsoever. "Commander Zhao said to give you some food and water when you woke up. He doesn't want you dying before you get home."

Zuko huffed dismissively as the man began rummaging through the supplies he had at his feet. Zuko wouldn't show any signs of weakness to Zhao or his crew; he wouldn't give them the satisfaction. "How long have I been out?" Zuko asked, trying his best not to sound as bad as he felt.

"A day and a half," came the guard's terse response. "I thought you weren't gonna make it."

Zuko didn't bother trying to carry on the conversation, he was too busy trying to think of a way to relieve some of the pain he was in. After a few more seconds of the guard churning through what seemed to be an excessive amount of supplies, he finally came across the meal he was told to give to Zuko.

"Here you go. Enjoy" the man said as he slid two dog bowls into the cell. One was filled with some nasty-looking cold mush that smelled like meat and rice mixed with rotten milk, and the other was filled with water.

Zuko blinked in shock a few times, trying to figure out whether or not the guard was serious. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Zuko asked, his disbelief outweighing the severe pain he was in for a moment. "I'm the Prince of the Fire Nation."

The guard turned back to him slowly, still not showing any amount of concern for the situation. "You're right, I'm sorry" he said, grabbing the dishes through the cell bars. He flipped them over, dumping the contents onto the ground haphazardly. "Enjoy, _your highness." _

Zuko growled in anger, but decided against arguing with the man. He wasn't going to lower himself to licking day old leftovers off the floor of a cell, no matter how hungry he may have been. Instead the prince leaned back against the back wall of his cell, letting the gentle flow of light and the constant sound of dripping water slowly lull him into a painful, restless sleep.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When he woke again, Zuko noticed that the ship was no longer moving. Knowing the speed of Fire Navy ships and the distance they had started away from the Fire Nation, Zuko could safely assume that they were nowhere near home. Unless, of course, he had slept for more than ten days, which most likely would have meant his death, via either dehydration or hypothermia. He also noticed that his wrists were bleeding, and could distinctly feel the cuffs slicing into his skin every time he made even the slightest movement.

"Why are we stopped?" he asked the guard outside his cell, his voice sounding as frail and weak as he felt. He wasn't going to bother wasting his strength on making his voice sound stronger; he would need it all if he was going to stay alive.

The guard shrugged, reaching to grab another set of food and water, which he slid into Zuko's cell again, this time leaving them upright. "Commander Zhao tracked the Avatar to a nearby forest. He and the soldiers went to ambush the boy. Figured he could bring your father two gifts for the price of one." Zuko slowly forced his way over to the food and water, forcing himself to appear as weak and frail as possible.

If Zhao had found the Avatar, he wouldn't be willing to risk losing another fight to the boy. The guard had also said 'the soldiers' instead of some, so Zuko figured that Zhao had taken the majority, if not all, of his troops with him.

If he was going to escape, he needed to do it now.

Bending to look like he was eating the food, Zuko used his legs to force the bowl of water behind him as he braced himself for some more burns. He lit small fires in both of his hands, focusing the heat directly on his handcuffs as he positioned the rusty metal above the ice cold water the guard had given him. Zuko knew that Fire Navy Commanders were taught to give prisoners near freezing water, as it would shock the system and keep the prisoners slower and less active. Something he was very glad he had picked up.

As he felt the cuffs heating and searing the cuts on his wrists, Zuko allowed his face to cringe in pain. He let it permeate his voice, as he spoke in the most pathetic voice he could.

"Can you, ergh." Zuko started, acting as though he was overwhelmed by pain. "Can you loosen these cuffs? They're cutting into my wrists, and I don't know how much more blood I can afford to lose."

For a moment he thought it was going to work. The guard looked like he was about to cave, before he huffed and turned back to his book. It was all Zuko could do to keep himself from screaming in rage, but as he fought to keep his anger under control, it gave him an idea.

"I get it. You're afraid." Zuko said tauntingly, attracting the guard's attention once more. "Zhao left you here to guard a prisoner who can't even move because you aren't nearly strong enough to help him capture the Avatar."

The guard turned, and by his expression, Zuko knew he had struck a chord. "I was assigned here because Zhao does not want to risk letting you escape. He needed someone he could trust," the guard argued defiantly.

"Riight." Zuko said, trying not to cringe as he felt his skin starting to burn under the heat of his fire-warmed cuffs. "He needs someone he can trust to babysit the kid that can't even stand up. You are too weak to help him and you know it."

"That's not true," the guard defied, standing as his anger continued to build.

"You know what's even more pathetic? You know you're weak, and you're so afraid that you can't even open the cell door in case you slip and get knocked out. That would be hard to explain, getting beat up by an immobile prisoner." The guard was getting pissed, and Zuko could tell he just needed to go a little further. "Makes sense that the fatass is the one Zhao trusts the least. I bet you're the weakest on this entire ship; including the cook."

"I'll show you!" the guard yelled, grabbing his keys and unlocking the cell. Zuko was a bit shocked that it had worked, but there was no time for celebrating. Finally able to get some relief, Zuko submerged his hands and handcuffs into the water, causing the superheated metal to cool rapidly. It stung like crazy, but the radical temperature change was just enough to snap the rusted links, freeing his hands just as his captor approached, fists ready.

With the adrenaline coursing through his veins and blotting out the pain he had been in, Zuko was able to dodge the man's punch by wheeling to his left. The amount of force the guard had put behind the fist had thrown off his balance, and all Zuko needed to do was grab the man's keys and add a small push, sending him crashing headfirst into the back wall. Zuko quickly got to his feet, desperation outweighing his aching limbs cries of pain. He rushed out the door, closing and locking it behind him.

After a few turns and doorways, Zuko had managed to get off the ship without anyone else noticing. Zhao's need for help capturing the Avatar turned out to be Zuko's saving grace.

As he snuck away from the ship, taking care to avoid the tracks Zhao and his men had left behind, Zuko could feel the adrenaline rush fading, and with it, his ability to stay upright and conscious. There was a town less than half a mile in the distance, but Zuko's strength was fading fast. He had eaten nothing in three days, and his intake of liquid matched perfectly.

He willed himself forward, focusing as hard as he could on the town, and trying to avoid thinking about how badly he needed water. If he could just get there and get something to drink, he might be able to stay awake and get further away from Zhao and his men.

The silhouette of a woman staring at him was the last thing Zuko registered before he passed out, falling to the dust in the middle of the sun soaked road.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_Two years._

_Two years he had been searching and what had he found? _

_Nothing._

_Not even a single sign that the Avatar even existed. All he had been able to pick up were the fairy tales and legends that parents would tell their kids, helping them sleep better at night. _

_It wasn't like Zuko hadn't been thorough. He had gone to every place he was allowed to travel, and some he wasn't. He had snuck into Ba Sing Se and spent three nights scouring the city and doing whatever he could to avoid the suspicious guards. He had travelled into multiple Fire Nation towns and territories, trying in vain to pick up so much as a rumor of the Avatar's existence. He had been as far North, South, East, and West as any map went, and even then he had travelled further. And what had it achieved?_

_Nothing._

_Zuko wasn't one to give up. He didn't quit just because things were hard, or the odds were stacked against him. He didn't back down regardless of how outmatched he was. But this was different._

_This wasn't giving up. This wasn't saying he couldn't do it because the task was too hard. This was just accepting reality. It wasn't too hard to find something that didn't exist; it was impossible. _

_And no matter how badly he wanted to, Zuko couldn't do something that was entirely impossible._

_He sighed as he tried to express this point in a letter to his uncle. The man had stood by his side for two long years and showed no signs of leaving any time soon. Which was exactly why Zuko refused to tell him in person. _

_He was leaving, running away to start a new life, even if it was away from his throne, people, and home. Those things were all gone, probably for good. And as he had come to learn in his many travels with the esteemed Dragon of the West, there was no sense dwelling on things that were gone. It was a lesson he had learned the hard way with his mother, and it was one he would have to learn again, this time with his old life._

_Like with his mother, Zuko couldn't forget about it completely. He had kept a picture and necklace of hers to remind him of her, as he would take his pearl dagger to remind him of who he had been and the life he had lived. The thing he could not afford to take, however, was his uncle. And somehow Zuko knew that if he had expressed his plans to Iroh, the older man would have followed him in an instant. It was something he could not ask the man to do, so he wouldn't even give him the chance. _

_Zuko was torn from his writing as his shipped lurched to the left, turning without his orders to do so. He closed the letter and left his room, making his way to the captain's tower swiftly. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "Who ordered you to alter our course?"_

_The captain stood unfazed, used to the prince's outbursts when he felt he had been undermined. "We need to pull into port, sir. The hull is in need of new metal."_

_Zuko blinked. He had been meaning to think of an excuse to get the ship into port so he could sneak away, but he didn't want to sound too eager. "Why would the ship need new metal? We haven't had any engagements with enemy ships, and I haven't heard anything scraping the ship from below, either."_

"_It's the heat, sir." The captain replied, as though it explained everything. It didn't make sense, considering the weather had been cold as of late._

"_What heat?" Zuko asked, becoming genuinely confused._

"_The metal the old warships are made of has a high specific heat, sir." Zuko blinked, waiting for the man to continue. "It's the same metal we use now for weapons and armor, and the same metal used to make this ship. When it rusts, the metal becomes weak and vulnerable. If it heats up to a high temperature and is rapidly cooled, it can tear. Which would be bad." He finished, causing Zuko to glare. The prince was not a fan of being patronized._

"_Why would the hull get hot though?" Zuko questioned, becoming suspicious. They had been using the same ship for two years and it had never been a problem before. Why would they need it fixed now?_

"_The engine heats it up from the inside and the ocean cools it down from the outside. With the recent cold weather, the water has been getting icy, and the engine is working harder. We are just trying to prevent any future issues, sir." Zuko was tempted to question further, as he didn't really buy the man's explanation. He decided it didn't matter, however, as he would be escaping soon after they reached dry land._

_As he turned to leave and go back to his room, Zuko noticed a messenger hawk near the window. It had the royal seal on its letter carrier, and Zuko's suspicion rose. "Is that a letter from my father?" Zuko asked, still facing away from the captain._

"_Uhh, no, sir." The man stuttered, noticeably uncomfortable. "It's a letter from the navy, warning us about this problem. It's the reason we're taking the ship in now."_

_Zuko could tell the man was lying, but he was growing tired of wasting his time. He still needed to pack and get a few more things in order before he was ready to leave, so he merely shrugged and returned to his room._

_He finished his letter to Iroh and left it on the man's bed just as they pulled into port._

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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**A/N: There you go, Chapter 3. Hope you all enjoyed it.**

**I've noticed a decent number of people really seemed to like the idea of Suki playing a larger role in this story, and as such I have decided to follow her a little more closely in future chapters as a bit of a side story. She will be making her way back into the mix later anyway, but this way I can try to fill in the pieces of what she is doing as the story goes. Though it hasn't been addressed yet, Toph will be making her way into the story much earlier than she did in the series, and Suki will have a bigger role as well. I haven't made up my mind about whether to bring in Jet and the Freedom Fighters, so let me know if you guys want to see them, otherwise I might just gloss over that part of the series. I have a couple ideas of how to work them in, so if you want them lemme know.**

**Anyway, as always, thanks for reading, following, and favoriting, and thanks especially for those taking the time to review and give some feedback. It is most appreciated.**

**Thanks,**

**-Boredone32**


	4. Chapter 4

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 4**

**Author's Note: So, based on the reviews I have been getting, I decided I wanted to give you guys a bit of a warning about this story. It is not under the category of romance, and the shipping going on in this will be miniscule at best. If you're reading wondering when the kissing will begin, I can promise you it won't be for at least 15-20 more chapters, **_**if**_** there is any kissing between anyone at all. Basically, if you're looking for a lovey-dovey gooey romance fic, this may not be the story for you. That said, so far I have pretty much only been following Zuko, which will not be the case going forward either.**

**Now then, since last chapter was a bit darker, this one should be quite a bit more upbeat and (hopefully) humorous. Hope you enjoy it!**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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Zuko woke slowly, annoyed at the familiar feeling of a pulsing headache as he forced himself back into consciousness for what felt like the fifth time in the past week. To say he was sick of passing out would be an understatement of epic proportions.

This time was a bit different, however. Zuko noticed three major differences. The first was that he wasn't in nearly as much pain. Save the pounding of his head as he tried to focus his eyes and the slight burning sensation in his wrists, his entire body felt refreshed and… not terrible. The second difference was that this time Zuko was waking up in a warm, soft, dry, bed. He would have lay back down and drifted into a blissfully sleep had it not been for the third difference.

He was starving.

Zuko couldn't remember the last time he had eaten, but his stomach was making a strong argument that it was not recently.

"Oh good," came a soft voice from Zuko's left. "You're up again." He turned to see an older woman, perhaps in her early forties, entering the room with a soft smile on her face. She looked about as tall as him, had a tan, almost mocha-colored skin, soft blue eyes, and a soft expression on her face. In fact, Zuko noticed, everything about the woman, and the room he was in, seemed soft. It was a welcome change from his previous sleeping arrangement, to say the least.

"I'm sure you must be starving; I'll grab you some food. You'll need to take it slow though; you don't want to get sick and be stuck here even longer." Zuko wasn't exactly sure who this woman was or why she was taking care of him, but his tired mind and starving stomach put him in no mood to argue or question. He simply nodded gratefully, slowly sitting up as the woman left the room.

When she disappeared again into what Zuko assumed was a kitchen, he took advantage of the opportunity to take in his surroundings. He was lying on a small, plain bed that was on the end of a row of five. There were another five beds lying in a parallel row a few feet from the foot of his. It looked like some sort of hospital room, or maybe an orphanage, though it was hard to tell with no other occupants or equipment. The walls and floor were wooden, and windows lined the wall opposite him, one behind the headrest of each pair of beds.

Zuko heard the woman returning, and turned so that his legs hung over the side of the bed, resting his weight on his arms. He noticed that his clothes had been changed, but didn't really mind. She smiled as she saw him sitting up, handing him a plate of warm meat and bread. "I see your arm isn't bothering you; that's good."

She was right. Zuko had been all but certain that his arm was broken, but he was leaning on it and it was causing him no pain at all. He had already been stuffing his face with food by the time his brain caught up with the woman's words, so he had to take a moment to swallow before he could respond.

"How long have I been here?" he asked, grabbing another piece of bread. "And where is here?" he added before taking a bite.

The woman laughed and sat on the bed across from Zuko, facing him with a warm smile. He wasn't sure who he was, but Zuko liked this woman.

"You've only been here a couple of days. You woke up five or six times, but only long enough to drink a little water before you passed out again." Zuko nodded, unable to speak with his mouth full of food. "As for where you are, this is my house. I run a bit of a hospital for the wounded soldiers that come through here. Iwatoshi is a small town, but it has a major port. There was a Fire Navy shipped docked here recently, in fact."

Zuko's eyes widened as he finished off the last of the food the woman had brought him, realizing he was probably less than a mile from where he had escaped. "Don't worry," the woman added, grabbing his shoulder soothingly as she picked up the plate. "They left in a hurry a few minutes after I found you on the road. They won't find you here any time soon."

The woman went back into the kitchen briefly, this time returning with a more modest plate of food and a glass of water. She gave it to Zuko and sat down again, waiting for the boy to continue eating. He hesitated, his hunger having been sated enough to allow him to think more clearly.

"I… I have no way to pay you for all of this," Zuko said solemnly, feeling as though he had somehow misled the woman.

"I figured that when I found you." She smiled at him again when he still made no move to continue eating. "I'm a healer; helping people is its own reward," she assured. "It's nice to have someone here so I have an excuse to actually cook once in a while, too."

Zuko couldn't help but start to smile back; the woman's cheery and comforting attitude seemed to make his worries melt. "Thank you, then." He said, eating his food with a little more decency this time through. When he actually took long enough to taste the food, he realized it was better than anything he had eaten since leaving his ship, though his still gnawing hunger probably made it taste better than it really was. "What's your name?" he asked, trying to make some small talk so he wasn't just eating in front of a silent audience.

"My name is Kanae." she said. Zuko noted that the name seemed odd, and as if she had read his mind, Kanae continued. "I'm from the Northern Water Tribe," she added. "My parents were a bit more original than yours were, it would seem." Zuko's brow furrowed in confusion; he hadn't remembered stating his name. "Your name is Lee, right?"

Zuko internally let out a huge sigh of relief, though he was still a bit confused as to how the woman knew his alias. "Uh, yeah. Did I say something when I had woken up earlier?" he asked.

"No, no." The woman replied. "Nothing like that. Your friend told me." Zuko blinked, his expression blank with confusion. Kanae laughed once again as she stood up. "I suppose I have a lot to explain. Let me see how your wounds are doing and I'll fill you in."

Zuko nodded, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, terrified to see what myriad of scars and bruises lay underneath. Much to his surprise, he took off his shirt only to reveal a single bandage running across his upper chest. The rest of his upper body was completely normal, with no remaining signs of his time spent on Zhao's ship. Kanae slowly unpeeled the bandage, trying to prevent as much pain as she could.

"As I said, I'm from the Northern Water Tribe. I moved here a few years ago so I could use my waterbending to help more of the soldiers fighting in the war. The women at the North Pole are trained in healing, and can use their bending to help the body recover from injury." Kanae finished examining the faint cut on Zuko's chest and nodded. Seemingly satisfied, she began to rewrap his chest, still explaining as she went. "Your case was a bit… severe, but I managed to get all of the most serious wounds fixed up. Your friend came into town a few hours after you did. Apparently she heard I was a waterbender from someone, because her and the Avatar came here asking if I could give them lessons."

Zuko had known the Avatar was nearby because Zhao and his men were after him, but he hadn't expected the boy to stay close by after Zhao attacked. That little kid was either a tactical genius or completely insane.

"When they saw I was tending to a patient, the girl, Katara, asked if she could do anything to help. I taught her a bit once I knew you would be alright, but the Avatar wasn't very interested in learning about healing. She told me that she had met you at Kyoshi Island, and she seemed to feel responsible for whatever happened to you."

As she finished her explanation, Kanae moved onto Zuko's bandaged wrists. They were the only things that were still causing him some pain, and the older woman seemed to know that, as she took extreme caution unwrapping and examining them. Zuko noticed that the burns had faded to a light pink color, but it seemed likely that they would leave a scar.

"You must be awfully talented," Zuko commented idly, his mind more preoccupied with the Avatar and his friends. "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me," the woman said, smiling. "Though your friend actually ended up being a big help. If you're feeling up to it, you should go thank her before they leave in a few hours."

Zuko's eyes widened, and the only thing that kept him from jumping up and sprinting out of the makeshift hospital was Kanae's grip on his wrists. The woman laughed to herself once again. She quickly finished with Zuko's wrists and reapplied the bandages, smiling at his sudden change in demeanor. "Hold on one second before you go," she said, releasing his wrists and heading back into the other room.

Zuko waited impatiently, standing and moving around, checking to see that all of his limbs worked well enough to walk. He could feel weakness throughout his entire body, but the more he moved around, the more his energy and strength seemed to return. Kanae returned moments later, carrying a small sack.

"Here are some supplies," she said, handing them to Zuko. "Normally I wouldn't let a patient leave in a condition as poor as yours, but you seem like your mind is fairly set. At least do me the favor of taking it slow, and don't strain yourself too much too quickly. It was a pleasure meeting you."

Zuko stood, somewhat shell-shocked, blinking as the woman continued smiling, just as she had the entire time he had been there. He had planned on lying and telling the woman that he would be back, but she seemed to know what he was thinking. The prince was starting to wonder if people magically received the ability to read others' minds when they turned forty.

After a moment or two of contemplating what to say, Zuko finally gave up, realizing that no words would be enough to thank the woman for her infinite kindness. "Thank you," he said lamely, bowing slightly and taking the small sack of supplies. "Thank you for everything."

Kanae smiled and nodded. "You should hurry," she said, her voice as soft as ever. "Don't want them leaving without you." Zuko nodded and turned, wordlessly leaving and pondering how one person could show a random stranger so much kindness.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Suki sat staring at the objects in front of her, trying to decide whether or not she should bring them along. She and the Kyoshi Warriors had been inspired by the Avatar and his mission and decided to leave Kyoshi and began doing their part to help out with the war. All of the warriors had been in agreement, and decided to take one week to recover, pack, and say their goodbyes. There had been a small celebration for them earlier that night, but Suki left early, still needing to finish getting ready before they left early the next morning.

She was currently wondering whether or not she would need her sword. It wasn't her favorite weapon, and it was awfully heavy, but it was also far more useful than fans in a life or death situation. Then there were a couple of family portraits, which she wanted to keep with her, but was worried they might get ruined.

And last was Lee's dagger.

_Zuko's dagger, _she reminded herself bitterly.

It had been nearly six days since Zhao had attacked Kyoshi and she had learned that her closest friend was actually the Prince of the Fire Nation. At first she had been nothing but angry and hurt, but the more she thought about it, the less angry she became. She was still having trouble believing it had all really happened.

It wasn't that Zuko and Lee seemed like completely different people. The biggest difference she had seen between Zuko and his alter ego were in his eyes. When he had glared down Zhao, standing ready to fight for his life and the lives of the other villagers, his eyes were filled with confidence, rage, and hatred. It was a far cry from the pain, loneliness, and melancholy that had always filled the eyes of her friend.

The part that really hurt her was the way he had lied. She knew they had become friends, and no matter how much he had been lying to her, he cared about her, at least a little. But when he had told the story of losing his family, travelling alone, and looking to start over, Suki could see the pain and sorrow in his eyes. She could hear the desperation and longing in his voice, and she would have bet anything that he was telling the truth. Even now, knowing he was Fire Nation, she still wanted to believe that he was her friend. That he had cared, even if it was only some miniscule amount.

And maybe he did.

Zuko had given himself over to Zhao to protect her and the village, and maybe that meant that in some way he felt bad about lying all that time.

The girl ran her hand down her face, groaning in frustration. She wasn't going to get any sleep if she kept thinking about it. And considering that it had already cost her three of the past six nights of sleep, she really wanted to get some rest before they left the next morning. Promising herself she wouldn't overthink it, she slipped the dagger into her bag and climbed into bed.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Finding the Avatar and his friends hadn't been hard. They were the talk of the town and everyone knew exactly where they were staying. Zuko tracked them down to a small, two-story inn. After a quick look around the inside, he figured out that there were no rooms on the first floor, so he made his way back outside and began scanning the sides of the building. A small alleyway rested on the northern side of the inn, and there were some supply boxes stacked outside. Bracing himself for potential muscle failure, Zuko grabbed onto one of the boxes and slowly began pulling himself up.

His strength was by no means back in full, but Zuko would rely on sheer will if he had to. He had expected to be bed ridden for weeks, assuming he had made it out alive at all. Now that he was up and able to move around, he wasn't going to let a little soreness stop him.

Slowly but surely Zuko was able to make it onto the roof, though his arms had not been fond of pulling his entire weight up via the gutter. He took a moment to catch his breath before silently creeping around the roof, trying to overhear conversations coming from inside the second floor. After working his way around to the opposite corner from where he had come up, Zuko made out the Avatar's voice coming from inside one of the rooms. He lowered his ear closer to the window, trying to make out what the three kids were talking about.

Zuko wasn't one hundred percent sure what he was trying to accomplish. He didn't even know what he was expecting to learn from spying on them. For some reason his instincts simply told him to learn what he could before making any moves. He supposed it probably had something to do with his lack of ability to trust people.

It wasn't like the Avatar or his friends knew who Zuko really was, but the prince hadn't even decided what he was going to do. Having been unconscious most of the time since he had left Kyoshi, Zuko had not had time to think about anything. He still hadn't dealt with how bad he felt about betraying Suki and the rest of the village, and he hadn't decided whether or not he could believe Zhao and his story about Ozai sending an order for the execution of his own son. And just to top it off, he now had to decide what he was going to do about the Avatar.

He could leave them be and go about his life, forgetting about them and Kyoshi Island and trying his best to start over once again. He could make some feeble attempt at capturing the Avatar and somehow transporting the airbender back to the Fire Nation. He could even go back to Kyoshi, beg for everyone's forgiveness and try to do whatever he could to get them to accept him again, this time without all the lying.

The last option seemed the least likely, though Zuko really wasn't a fan of any of the three. He shrugged off the thoughts, deciding they weren't as important as the task at hand, and refocused his attention on the faint conversation coming from the room below him.

"We need to leave now though." Zuko heard one of them say. It wasn't the Avatar and it wasn't Katara, so Zuko figured it was the older boy. He couldn't remember what Suki had said the boy's name was, but he knew the teen was clumsy and spastic.

"Why Sokka?" came Katara's response. Zuko took a mental note of the boy's name and continued to listen.

"If we stay in one place for too long the Fire Nation will find us. Just like they did on Kyoshi Island. We need to keep moving." Zuko vaguely wondered why the older boy, Sokka, hadn't been in charge of the plans all along. That would have been a good idea to follow from the start.

"But I am learning some important waterbending here. We don't even need to go all the way to the North Pole this way." Katara argued back.

"Besides," came the voice of the Avatar. Aang, as Zuko recalled. "Whenever we keep moving we always seem to run directly into them anyway."

"That's because we have no idea where their camps are and Appa is way too easy to spot. If we get within ten miles of them they can spot us, and they have a ton of camps out here." Sokka argued back. "Besides, that isn't the point. It's great that you're learning healing here Katara, but if Aang is going to master waterbending, we need to find someone who can use it to fight."

Zuko heard Katara huff, but she offered no counter. He didn't bother staying for the rest of the conversation, as he had a new idea forming in his head. The firebender thought he had an idea that might give him a bit more time to think through things.

After reaching the ground once again, Zuko waited in the alleyway, peaking his head out from the shadows at the entrance of the inn. A few minutes passed before Katara finally came out the door, making her way to a nearby food stall, likely to get more supplies before they departed. Just as he had in Kyoshi, Zuko made his way to the girl nonchalantly, bumping into her shoulder before she got to the stand.

"Sorry-" she started, turning towards him.

"No it was my- Katara?" he asked, doing his best to sound surprised.

"Lee!" Katara said, sounding significantly happier than he had expected. "It's good to see you're okay, but should you really be walking around right now?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you and Kanae. Besides, I can't stay here long. The last thing I want is for that sideburns guy to catch me again."

"Zhao did that to you?" Katara asked, her voice showing even more concern than her worried expression.

"Yeah," Zuko started, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling like it was no big deal. He silently admired his ability to jump back into character so quickly. "He recognized me from Kyoshi and thought I knew something about where you and the Avatar were headed."

"Oh my gosh," Katara responded, clearly feeling responsible for Zuko's previous condition.

Just as planned.

"Anyway, that's why I gotta start heading North. I have a long way to go if I want to get to the Northern Water Tribe any time soon." Zuko remarked.

"Why are you heading to the North Pole?" Katara asked, causing Zuko to smirk inwardly.

"Well, my parents always told me about how beautiful it was. After what happened at Kyoshi, I figured I wasn't safe staying there, so I might as well keep moving. Seemed like a long enough journey to keep me busy for a while." Zuko answered, worried that Katara would see through the weakest link of his newest chain of lies. "Why do you ask?"

"That's where Sokka, Aang and I are headed," Katara replied. Zuko saw the two boys heading their direction as Katara added, "Maybe you could come with us."

Sokka seemed to overhear, as he was quick to butt in. "No Katara, he can't come with us." Katara turned and glared at her brother, who paid no attention.

"Sokka, this is Lee. He was at Kyoshi, remember?" Sokka nodded; the scarred teen wasn't tough to recognize. "He's heading to the North Pole too. Why can't he come with us?"

"Because he's one more mouth for us to feed and extra weight for Appa to carry." Sokka turned to address Zuko, who was madly thinking of a way to convince the Water Tribe boy to bring him along. "Sorry, it's nothing personal."

As frantic as he was on the inside, Zuko managed to remain calm, shrugging dismissively as he gave the only idea he had a shot. "It's no big deal. I prefer to stay on the ground where I can avoid all the Fire Nation camps anyway."

"Wait, what now?" Sokka asked, his interest piqued. Zuko sighed inwardly as his plan began working. He just needed a story…

"Yeah… I had a map of all of them in Kyoshi; wish I hadn't forgotten it. Luckily I remember most of what was on it. The map was a little old, but so far it hasn't let me down."

"You know…" Sokka started, standing next to Zuko and grabbing the boy's arm. "On second thought, we could really use a navigator. You can help us avoid the camps, and we'll get you to the North Pole twice as fast as you would on foot. Whaddaya say, buddy?"

Zuko could already tell he wasn't going to like Sokka's antics, but he forced himself to smile. "I guess I can come with you guys, if you're sure you don't mind."

"It's settled then," said Aang, finally chiming in. "Katara and I will finish packing while you and Sokka go load up Appa's saddle!" Zuko groaned inwardly as he realized the whole group was far too happy and friendly, and he would likely be spending the next few weeks in their company. "Have you ever flown on a bison before?" Aang asked Zuko, who shook his head in response, biting back the hundreds of sarcastic responses that had come to mind. "It's awesome; you're gonna love it!" With that he bounded back toward the inn in a way that caused Zuko to wonder if the boy had been drugged.

Sokka started pushing him toward the bison, an evil glint in his eye. "Yeah, you're going to _love _it."

Zuko gulped. He was pretty sure that based on the way Sokka had said it, he would not, in fact, love it.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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**A/N: And so Zuko joins the Gaang. Kinda. That last bit felt like a wall of dialogue… I'm not a huge fan. Oh well!**

**Real quick, big thanks to theAsh0 for beta reading the last chapter (though I still haven't gotten around to finishing it up and reuploading the edits, so people who have already read it, she made it a lot less uh, unedited?). Really appreciate the help!**

**Also thanks to anyone who has reviewed at all, those are always fun to read, and have been the inspiration for why I have been updating so fast. It leaves more work for my poor beta though, cause I tend to miss more when I'm going over it.**

**Anyway, as always, thanks for reading, and lemme know what I can do better.**

* * *

**THIS IS IMPORTANT**

* * *

…**kinda**

**So I know I posted this story under Zuko and Katara, initially because I figured that's what it would end up being. I am contemplating, however, making Suki and Zuko a pairing in this story, and for some reason the idea really interests me. If you really want to see that, or, if it would crush your hopes and dreams if I did that, please let me know. I am not making any decisions right now, but I do want to get that part of the story solidified in my head before I get too much further.**

**Maybe I should put up a poll for it… meh.**

**Thanks again,**

**-Boredone32**


	5. Chapter 5

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 5**

**Author's Note: Hey again guys; Welcome to Chapter 5! **

**Not much to say except thanks again to all who read/reviewed/followed/favorited. And another special thanks to theAsh0 for beta reading.**

**Yeah… that's it, so here goes.**

**Hope you enjoy it!**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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Zuko wanted to kiss the ground. He never thought he would miss solid land more than he had on his ship, but flying on the back of a ten ton bison made his two years at sea feel like a welcome alternative. They had flown all day, but it was getting late, and Sokka pointed out that it would be much tougher to set up camp in the dark. Zuko wasn't convinced that they had put enough distance between themselves and Zhao, but wasn't about to argue with any chance he had of reaching the solid earth again.

The flight had been long, far too long for Zuko's liking. It had started off with some awkward introductions and forced smiles, but as soon as they took off, Zuko was too busy clamping to the saddle for conversation. This earned him quite a bit of mocking from his new companions, but he didn't really care. The more they found his company enjoyable, the better. Besides, humans weren't meant to fly anyway. After a few minutes Zuko had been able to get over his panic, and the conversation resumed. He asked a lot of questions, both to learn more about them and to keep the conversation away from himself. Sokka had explained that Aang had only mastered airbending, and that he and Katara wanted to go to the North Pole to find a master. The Water Tribe warrior claimed that he was along for the chance to 'knock some firebender heads,' but Zuko doubted he had the ability to do so. The Prince had never done too much with the actual army, but he hoped that even the lowest level grunts had the training to deal with the boomerang wielding boy.

After a while, the talking had ceased, and Zuko had some much needed time to think to himself. Aside from being pulled out of his musings by a couple of simple questions from Aang or Katara, Zuko had spent the majority of the afternoon in silence. He briefly wondered what Suki had been up to since he had left, but the thought made him feel… sad, so he didn't linger on it long. His mind drifted to what Zhao had said about his father, and Zuko couldn't help but think that his suspicion on the night he had left was not simply a bout of paranoia. After realizing that he was actually considering the possibility that his father had ordered his execution, Zuko once again focused his thoughts elsewhere.

This time his wandering mind led him to a much more relevant topic: what he was doing. Travelling with the Avatar and his friends had made sense on the ground, but the Prince was starting to question the decision. His thought process had been that keeping the boy close meant that he was keeping his options open; he could capture the Avatar or simply move on when they got far enough away from Zhao. After a moment to think more on the idea, Zuko realized he had overlooked a few key points.

First of all, he had no way of capturing the Avatar. Sure, he could try tying up the boy in his sleep, but even if he managed to avoid getting destroyed by the airbending monk, he would still have to deal with the Water Tribe siblings. He liked his odds, but winning the fight wouldn't matter much. He had no way of transporting the Avatar anywhere, much less all the way back to the Fire Nation. Second, leaving the group would be awfully suspicious, since his intentions were supposedly to travel to the North Pole. They were also travelling fairly straight toward said destination, meaning they wouldn't make much progress toward Ba Sing Se. The walk didn't sound fun, and other Earth Kingdom cities would not likely provide a safe enough refuge for the prince.

Eventually Zuko had developed a headache, thinking about far too many major topics in too short a time. He had been through quite a bit in the past week, and his mind was nowhere near finished processing it all. The firebender spent most of the remainder of the ride focusing on when it would be over, and trying not to think about the fact that he was flying through the air on the back of an oversized cow.

The second they hit the ground Zuko was off the saddle, but his wobbly legs were unable to catch his weight, and he crumpled to his knees on impact. As far as he was concerned all it did was get him even further away from the sky. Aang quickly bounded down after him, laughing at the older boy's misfortune. He helped Zuko up, and the group began unloading the necessary supplies from Appa's saddle.

When they had finished unpacking they began dividing out tasks to set up camp, and Zuko had somehow got put in charge of starting the fire. He found some dry wood nearby, and had his job done in a matter of minutes, using some well concealed bending to get the flames started. Katara had been put in charge of preparing dinner, so Zuko decided to see if she needed help.

"You're done already?" she asked after he offered his aid. "It takes Sokka half an hour to get a fire started… on a good day." Zuko half-smiled at the joke.

"I heard that! And I'm telling you, there was no dry wood nearby. Everything was soaked." Katara laughed at her brother's defensive attitude, but didn't bother pointing out that nothing else in the area had showed any signs of recent rain.

"I'd love some help. Could you get a pot of water boiling while I start getting the soup together?" Zuko nodded, glad she hadn't asked him to do a more complex task. He had never really cooked much before, and doubted his culinary skills were any good.

Their camp had been well positioned, and Zuko made his way to the nearby stream carrying a pot. It seemed like a bulky thing to carry around while travelling, but he supposed the bison could handle it fairly easily. The stream was shallow, so it would take a bit of time to get enough water, but he wasn't in any hurry. The steady trickle of the water flowing past and the scent of the nearby forest was serene and calming, and Zuko couldn't help but smile to himself. He decided that if he had to travel across the world for a second time, camping on land would be a much nicer way to do so.

His quest for the Avatar had always kept him occupied, and letting it go had been somewhat liberating to the prince, even if it meant leaving behind his old life. Noticing things like the tranquility of nature had never even occurred to him before, but Zuko found it oddly… calming.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard someone speaking nearby. Zuko focused in, listening to try to determine whether or not this person was a threat.

"Can you believe it?" a male voice asked. It was deep and husky, and Zuko guessed the man was somewhere in his thirties or forties. "The prince of the Fire Nation, a traitor?"

His eyes widened. This person was definitely a threat. Zuko's eyes darted from side to side, desperately seeking a hiding place.

"I know, right? But this poster said he fought against Commander Zhao and helped the Avatar escape Kyoshi." The second voice sounded younger, but by the way he had spoken about Zhao, Zuko could tell the men were both Fire Nation soldiers.

The forest was nearly a quarter mile away, and the only other potential cover was a nearby bush. That or he could lead the men back to the Avatar's camp, potentially losing his cover. Zuko frantically tried to think of a solid course of action, but nothing came to mind. He decided to try hiding in the bush when the first voice sounded off again.

"Is that… is that him?"

Too late.

Zuko swallowed hard as the men came into view. His scar was facing them, and he knew there was no way he was talking his way out of this. He hadn't practiced his firebending or fighting in quite a while, and his body, although healed, was not back to its full strength yet. Zuko took a deep breath, cursing the spirits for his bad luck as the men drew their weapons. Luckily neither appeared to be a bender, which gave Zuko a much better chance.

The older man carried a single sword while the younger dual wielded broadswords. The weapons were somewhat of a fad in the Fire Nation, which is why Zuko had learned them as a teenager as well. He wasn't surprised to see a young soldier using them, but he was glad that he would once again be in possession of some weaponry he was used to.

Remembering all his old techniques and all of Iroh's teachings, Zuko took his stance, waiting for his opponents to make the first move. The older man was apparently the braver of the two, as he charged forward, oblivious to the small stream that divided them. Zuko struck at the man's legs, shooting a ball of fire followed by a wider, less forceful wave. The fireball forced the man to jump, and the wave took out his legs as he landed. The man toppled forward, crashing into the stream.

The second man yelled in anger, taking his own charge at the prince. Zuko spun on his left heel, shooting a blast from his right fist followed by one from his foot; the first low and the second high. The younger swordsman had expected the same trick that had taken out his counterpart, and sidestepped the first blow, catching the second directly in the chest. Zuko was standing over the man seconds after he hit the ground. The soldier was still conscious, but a quick strike under his jaw fixed the problem.

Zuko took the mas weapons and their sheath, though they were of far lower quality than the ones he was used to. He put the swords away and slung the strap over his shoulder before going to check on the older man. The soldier was still breathing, but his head was cut and he was clearly out cold.

"What happened?" Zuko looked up to see Aang rushing toward him, followed closely by Sokka. The monk looked worried, so Zuko assumed he had not seen the bending display. "We heard someone yelling and then we thought we heard someone shooting fire."

"These soldiers attacked me." Zuko said, gesturing to the two unconscious men behind him.

"Are you okay?" Aang asked, looking to see if the older boy had any cuts or burns. Sokka caught up, but was too out of breath to weigh in on the situation.

"I'm fine, but I don't think it's safe here." Zuko groaned inwardly as he realized what he was about to ask. "Do you think your bison has enough energy to keep flying?"

"I'm sure Appa can handle it, but we'll need to rest during the day if we fly all night." Zuko nodded, realizing it was their best option.

"I thought you said there weren't any Fire Nation camps near here." Sokka said, finally having caught his breath well enough to speak.

"I told you," he responded defensively. "The map was old. The information is probably out of date." Zuko didn't bother pointing out that the information was two and a half years out of date, and frankly his memory of Fire Nation camps in the Earth Kingdom was fuzzy at best. Sokka glared, but accepted the response.

"Alright, let's go get Katara and pack up our things." Zuko noticed that the Water Tribe boy sounded just as unhappy as he was. He wasn't sure why, as the boy hadn't seemed to mind flying before. "Another meal of dried fruits and nuts. Awesome." Sokka added sarcastically, ending Zuko's confusion.

Sokka and Aang began walking away, but Aang stopped when he noticed Zuko's hesitation to follow. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.

Zuko nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. I'll be right there; Katara wouldn't like it if I lost her cooking pot on my first day here." Aang smiled and laughed, bounding off back to the camp as if he hadn't been standing at the scene of a fight mere seconds earlier. Once he was sure no one was watching Zuko turned back to the older man's unconscious body.

He quickly found what he was looking for. He pulled the piece of paper from the man's pocket and inspected it, seeing the word WANTED at the top, and a picture of his face drawn onto the front. The hair style was current, and the poster referred to him as Zuko, though it warned that he may be using an alias. He assumed the posters were sent out by Zhao, so there was a slight chance that there wouldn't be any ahead of them.

Praying that he was right, Zuko shook his head and grabbed the cooking pot before taking off to join the others in packing up camp again.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko sat on Appa's saddle focusing intently on the small piece of paper in his hands. He had tried to fall asleep for a while, but once Sokka started snoring up a storm Zuko realized he would have no such luck. Instead he decided to take the time to try and figure out how likely it was that there would be wanted posters of him in the areas further north. It would have taken Zhao quite a while to get enough posters made to send out to the Fire Nation camps, though warning letters had probably already made their way to the northern-most point and back by then.

"What's that?"

Zuko jumped at the sound of the Avatar's voice. Aang had been flying Appa from his seat atop the bison's head, but apparently trusted the animal's sense of direction, as he was now sitting cross-legged a few feet away from Zuko. "It's a letter." Zuko lied, slipping the poster into the sack of supplies Kanae had given him. His tone implied that he didn't want to elaborate, and the airbender seemed to get the hint.

"Oh," the kid replied, not pressing the matter further. After a couple seconds of silence that was broken only by the consistent sound of Sokka's explosive snores Aang changed the subject. "How did you manage to beat those soldiers?"

"Uh," Zuko started, fumbling for a feasible lie. "I got pretty lucky, to be honest." He prayed that would be enough of an explanation for the boy, but Aang simply stared at him, waiting for some elaboration. "I dodged the first guy and tripped him, and he hit his head on the rocks. The second wasn't a very good fighter, but it took a while to get the best of him, especially with the swords." It wasn't a great fight story, but Zuko felt it was believable enough.

"Oh… Do you know if those guys were gonna be alright?" Zuko blinked in surprise. He hadn't really expected the Avatar to be concerned with his enemies.

"I'm… not sure. I doubt either of their injuries are too serious, though." Aang smiled, apparently reassured.

"Do you hate the Fire Nation?" Zuko's eyes widened a bit at the question. He wasn't one hundred percent sure how to respond.

"Don't you?" he countered.

Aang sighed heavily, turning and looking over the side of Appa. "No," he said, his voice sounding heavier than normal. "I don't hate them. I hate what they did to my people, but I don't hate them for it." Aang began rubbing his shoulder, and Zuko could tell that the issue had been bothering the monk a decent bit lately. "I mean, I miss everyone from the Air Temple, but I was gone for a hundred years. They probably would have been gone by now anyway. And just because it was the Fire Nation that started the war doesn't mean that anyone from there is automatically bad. I mean, everyone deserves a chance, don't they?" Zuko nodded slightly, though he doubted the monk was even talking to him anymore. It seemed like Aang just really wanted to get it all off his chest.

"Even the soldiers are just fighting for their country. I mean, they might even think that they're doing the right thing." His voice was starting to rise, and Zuko thought the boy sounded sad about something other than the Fire Nation soldiers. "Is someone really evil if they don't know that what they're doing is bad?" Aang was starting to sound angry, and his voice was practically a shout at this point. "Maybe they're just scared and confused, and they don't know that they're hurting people. Maybe they just can't handle the pressure, and they…they…"

Aang's shoulders slumped as he took a couple deep breaths, trying to regain his composure. "I'm sorry." he said, turning to Zuko and forcing a smile. "I think maybe I need to get some sleep." Zuko nodded wordlessly in response, and Aang bowed slightly before making his way back to Appa's head.

For the first time Zuko was seeing the Avatar for what he truly was: a twelve year old kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The group had ended up landing in a small forest, having decided that the trees would provide ample cover from any potential threats. They had decided not to bother setting up tents, and merely laid out their sleeping rolls and went to bed. By the time Zuko woke up, he could hear the sound of a campfire and his nose picked up the scent of cooking food. Stretching his arms and legs as he stood up, Zuko looked around the campsite. Sokka was still snoring, lying with his butt in the air on his sleeping mat, smiling like a buffoon. Aang was curled up next to Appa, and the flying lemur, Momo, was asleep on the boy's head.

He quietly made his way over to the fire and joined Katara, who was hovering over the cooking pot, stirring her mixture. "Hey," she greeted quietly, smiling as Zuko sat down beside her.

"Hey. What are you making?"

"Just some stew. I used some of the ingredients I bought back in Iwatoshi." Zuko nodded. It smelled pretty good, considering what little materials the girl had to work with.

"You should've woken me up," Zuko started, looking around at the trees surrounding them. "I could've helped you get everything prepared." Katara shrugged.

"It's no big deal. I usually do most of the cooking anyway, and you seemed pretty tired. I noticed you never fell asleep on Appa." Zuko huffed in agreement, not having any argument to that. "Don't worry though," Katara added. "You'll get used to it pretty quick."

Zuko shook his head smiling. "I doubt that."

Katara laughed softly, taking care to avoid waking her still sleeping friends. "Trust me, it gets easier." Zuko didn't feel particularly reassured, but it wasn't like he had any choice other than just hoping she was right. "We didn't get much of a chance to talk back in Kyoshi; is that where you were from?"

Zuko had been worried that his new group of companions would start asking questions sooner or later, but he had spent enough time lying in Kyoshi to have a pretty well developed lie. "No. I was born in a small village northwest of Omashu. My family and I had a farm a few miles outside the town." Katara added some spices to the stew. One of them had a strong scent, and Zuko's stomach began to growl as the aroma hit his nose. Katara giggled and Zuko could feel his face heat in embarrassment.

"You sound hungry." Zuko felt his face get hotter, and came to a horrible realization.

He was blushing.

_What's wrong with me, _he wondered, trying in vain to make the color leave his cheeks. _I've been forcing fake smiles and laughs to keep up my cover for months, but this? This is too far. I don't smile. I don't laugh. And I most certainly do not blush. _

"You said your parents told you about the North Pole," Katara stated, though Zuko was only half-listening. "Where are they? I didn't see them in Kyoshi."

"They died," he replied solemnly. _Sure, Lee might be a different story. I have to act happy and nice so people don't get suspicious. But blushing is not okay. _He was staring into the campfire, completely oblivious to the girl he had just been talking to. _This isn't good. I need to stop this lying thing before it's too late. If I start crying to people I swear I-_

His thoughts were cut off as the waterbender's hand touched his shoulder, a concerned look etched onto her face. Zuko noticed a look of sincere sympathy in the girl's eyes and wondered what exactly he had missed. "Uh," he started lamely, looking for a way to make her stop looking so… worried about him. "I'm sorry, I missed what you said." His voice remained melancholy, though he wasn't sure his acting was as good as usual.

"I said I know how you feel. I was so depressed after I lost my mother." Zuko cringed inwardly. He actually knew the feeling of losing a mother, and lying directly to the girl as she opened up about something so painful was not going to be easy, even for him. "I know it feels like you have to stay strong so no one thinks your hurt, but it's okay to be hurt once in a while."

_Are all of these people seriously this caring? I barely know this girl; why is she being so… nice to me? _Zuko forced a small smile. "Thanks Katara." The girl smiled back, removing her hand from his shoulder and going back to her cooking. "And I'm sorry… about your mom." Katara looked back at him, nodding and smiling, though Zuko could see she was trying to fight back tears at the memory. He felt like comforting her, but a large part of him knew it would end up being a terrible idea.

In the Fire Nation Zuko had very few people that actually cared about him. He didn't have any friends, though Mai and Ty Lee were at least neutral towards him. Aside from his uncle and mother, and Lu Ten, before he died, no one truly cared about the prince or his feelings. All they cared about was how good he was as a firebender and potential leader. His own father had never showed much affection to him, and it seemed like every general and nobleman he met had wanted to watch him fail.

In the Earth Kingdom, he had already met more people that actually cared about him, and it had only been a couple of months. There was Kanae, who not only saved his life for free out of the kindness of her heart, but also had given him a sack of supplies, which he later discovered had contained no small amount of coins, among its other contents. There was the Avatar, who, in a very limited number of interactions, had already made advances on becoming friends with him. Though Sokka wasn't quite as friendly and outgoing, the Water Tribe boy had still been pleasant towards Zuko, and had even showed concern after his fight with the Fire Nation soldiers.

Katara was clearly a very trusting person, but that didn't change the fact that she had already welcomed him into their group with open arms. She had also helped heal him with Kanae, and she was constantly concerned with making him feel welcomed, comfortable, and happy ever since he had joined them. In two days travelling with the girl she was already sharing some of the hardest moments of her life with him, just to make him feel better.

And that wasn't it. There had been the innkeeper back in Kyoshi, and to an extent the village as a whole. They had been wary of him, but still allowed him to live in their small, isolated community, eventually welcoming him in as part of their collective family. And of course there was Suki.

_Suki._

Thinking her name almost made him sick. The expression on her face when she had found out that he was a firebender made him feel horrible. She had been his first friend, and a good one, at that. She let him stay at her house and eat her food. She had tried to make him feel at home in the new village, and tried to help him move on from losing his fictional family, though she never pressured him too far. She had become his second family.

And he betrayed her.

The entire time he was there he had been betraying her. Lying straight to her face while he reaped the benefits of her trust.

And while it made him sick to his stomach to think about, Zuko realized that he was doing it again.

Katara would be no less hurt when she found out, and sooner or later she was bound to find out. Sokka would probably be pissed, but Zuko doubted the boy would take it too horribly. With Aang, it was hard to say.

In a way it depended on what Zuko was going to do. If Aang found out while Zuko was in the process of capturing him, Zuko figured the panic would outweigh the feeling of betrayal, at least for a while. If they found out another way… well, Zuko wasn't sure he wanted to think about that. Hopefully betrayal wasn't enough to trigger the Avatar State.

As he looked around, observing the three kids he now called companions, Zuko realized what he had done. What he had gotten himself into. All three of them were going to be hurt, by him, sooner or later. And he knew, deep down, that the longer he waited, the more betraying them would hurt everyone, including himself.

If he was going to make a move, he needed to stop making friends with these people, and he needed to start being cold.

And he was going to need to do it soon.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: Alright, so not a ton happening in this chapter. The next chapter is going to leave Zuko with a bit of a decision to make, and after that the story picks up quite a bit. So, sorry if this was boring, but I promise it will get more interesting pretty quick.**

**Also, I know Aang seems a bit… aangsty (haha, get it?), but there is a reason. Basically it's like he was in the episode The Storm, but I'll explain it in more detail next chapter.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and lemme know what you liked or what I can improve.**

**Thanks,**

**-Boredone32**


	6. Chapter 6

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 6**

**Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for the slow update. I wanted to get a start on two new stories that I am working on, and one of them has a ton of background work to do. You can find it on my profile if you're interested, but it is very OC focused, so I doubt many of you will like it. But, I digress. I will try to update this once a week at the slowest from now on, and I'm sorry for taking eight days for this. This chapter is also unedited at the moment, but I'll go back through it tomorrow and make any corrections.**

**Enjoy chapter six!**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_Zuko willed himself forward, fighting against his tired body and ignoring his lungs desperate cries for more oxygen. He couldn't stop; stopping would surely mean his death. Fire licked at his heels, the burning sensation adding to his desperation. Ahead of him was only darkness, but he didn't care. Mentally groaning in frustration as his tired legs betrayed him and began to slow, Zuko decided to try to slow his pursuer as well. _

_He planted hard on his right foot and wheeled around, facing the approaching vortex of flames. Breathing in deeply, he punched his fist forward, calling on his element. But nothing came from his outstretched arm, nor did the approaching flames recede. In fact, they seemed to grow in speed and ferocity, and his eyes widened in shock and fear. He turned to run again, but was engulfed by fire before he had the chance._

_The firebender covered his face as he braced for the heat that was about to incinerate him. After a few seconds of waiting for his doom, Zuko realized that nothing was happening. He slowly opened one eye, finding himself no longer surrounded by the ferocious reds and oranges. _

_Instead, he found himself staring down at a vast forest. There was a large range of mountains towering on the left and a large city looming to the right. A massive river ran through the center of the forest, its water coursing by the endless number of swaying evergreens and providing them with life. The sun was slowly rising over the horizon, casting a purplish glow across the land below. _

_Zuko vaguely noted that he was floating on air, but the thought didn't seem to fully register. As the sun started getting higher, the air started to feel dry. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe, and the temperature was increasing rapidly. Zuko's eyes widened as he struggled for air, and he watched in panic as the river below him dried up instantaneously. The trees rapidly began dying, and as the sun reached the height of its journey, the dead limbs began to ignite._

_Suddenly the whole forest was on fire, and the nearby city quickly followed suit. Despite being miles away and floating in midair, Zuko could hear the screams of women and children as they tried in vain to escape their burning homes. He started to choke, as the air was far too hot to breath. He covered his ears and closed eyes, willing the scene before him to stop._

_Air finally found its way into his lungs, and Zuko took a deep breath before sighing in relief. After taking a moment to calm himself, Zuko opened his eyes again, though he immediately regretted it. If the scene of the burning landscape before had been a bad one, the new version was horrific. The forest had been reduced to ash, though the blackened stumps of some of the sturdier trees dotted the ground, giving it an even more foreboding appearance. The city had been reduced to rubble, and Zuko prayed that the ash covering the ground consisted only of the remains of housing and furniture, and not those who had been caught in the blaze._

_As Zuko began feeling sick, his body was rocketed forward, and he landed in the middle of the now dry riverbed. He heard the sound of a girl crying, and tried in vain to move toward her. Though he couldn't move, his body seemed to float toward the sound, until the little girl came into view. She was small, likely no older than eight, and holding a doll to her chest, crying into its stomach. He tried to call out to comfort her, but no sound came from his throat. He tried to rub his neck to see if it was damaged, but his arms refused to move. His head ignored his order to turn as well, and Zuko could do nothing but watch._

_A man approached, and Zuko felt relief flood through him. Finally someone could at least try to make the poor girl feel less alone. The man walked up to her casually, stopping about three feet away. She looked up, her tear flooded eyes filled with fear, pain, and sadness. Neither of the two figures said a word, and Zuko began to grow impatient. He mentally glared at the man, who was beginning to look strangely familiar. His face was shrouded in shadow, though Zuko could make out the outline of a twisted smile set on his lips. _

_Zuko blinked and found himself face to face with the man, looking up from a height of no more than three feet. He could feel a small ragdoll in his right arm, and the coolness of tears lining his cheeks. He slowly raised his vision to meet the man's stare, and his eyes widened in horror at what he saw. The left half of the man's face was covered in a burn scar._

_Staring up at himself in fear, Zuko watched himself pull his right arm back, laughing maniacally. As he punched forward, fire flooded Zuko's vision before everything went dark._

A loud growling sound tore Zuko from his sleep. He opened his eyes in a panic, finding himself a mere foot and a half away from Sokka's stomach. Barely keeping himself from screaming, Zuko took a moment to catch his breath before he tried to remember where he was. Another growl sounded, and Zuko noted with a bit of disgust that it was coming from Sokka's stomach.

Another much louder growl sounded from below him, and Zuko remembered that he was riding on Appa's back. They had been flying all night, and Zuko hadn't been able to fall asleep before the sun began coming up. He vaguely wondered when he had actually managed to fall asleep, but didn't bother to dwell on the thought.

"Kataraaa," Sokka whined. "We haven't eaten since yesterday at lunchtime. Don't we have any more food?"

Zuko decided not to remind Sokka that their food had already been depleted by the endless pit the Water Tribe boy called a stomach to spare his feelings. "You ate it all yesterday, Sokka." Apparently Katara wasn't so concerned about it. "We can get more food when we land, but we're nearly out of money as well."

"We could probably find some leechi nuts. I'm pretty sure there's a forest near where we're going," Aang chimed in.

"I'm not eating nuts again, Aang. I need meat!" In his time travelling with the Avatar and his friends, Zuko had managed to learn a few things, but one thing stood out among the rest. Sokka was always hungry, and he _loved _meat. Being a guy, Zuko understood the value in a well cooked, perfectly spiced cut of meat, but there was a huge difference between enjoying it and being obsessed with it.

"Well Sokka," Katara replied, her voice sounding a bit impatient. "Unless your hunting skills have vastly improved since you last tried using them, we're going to have to go without any meat for a while. We couldn't even afford to fill your stomach with the amount of money we have left, much less get us to the North Pole."

"Hey, I'm a perfectly good hunter." Here Zuko had to cover his mouth to avoid scoffing, but Sokka still seemed to notice. The boy had made a couple attempts before they had left their previous camp, and to say it was unsuccessful would be an understatement. Not only had Sokka not caught anything, but he had managed to lose even more of their food supply, which he was apparently using as bait.

Katara stared at her brother skeptically as Zuko regained his composure. "Okay, fine," Sokka submitted. "But maybe we can find a way to get more money."

"And how do you suppose we could do that?" Katara countered. Sokka stroked his chin in thought while Zuko took the pause in conversation as an opportunity to take in his surroundings. They had flown toward the coastline to avoid some Fire Nation camps, but it appeared that Aang wanted to be even safer, as all Zuko could see around them was water.

Zuko slowly made his way to the front of Appa's saddle as Katara and Sokka resumed arguing about their financial troubles. "Where _are _we going?" he asked Aang, who was seated on Appa's head.

Aang sat silently for a moment, scratching his chin as though he had forgotten. "I'm not entirely sure." Zuko's jaw dropped in shock, and he was sure his expression accurately displayed his bewilderment.

"I thought you said there was a forest nearby. How would you know that if you don't know where we're going?" Aang smiled cheerfully, and Zuko fought the urge to punch the overly optimistic child.

"There are forests all over the Earth Kingdom; I'm sure there _is_ one nearby."

Zuko's palm met his face as he slumped back to his seat in Appa's saddle. He closed his eyes in annoyance and prayed to Agni that they would make it _somewhere_ before the bison went down or Sokka began considering cannibalism.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Appa descended as a small town port came into view, much to the relief of his four passengers. The majority of the ride had been spent in silence, with Katara occasionally trying to tell Sokka that he wouldn't be able to find a job, though her older brother was convinced otherwise. Zuko was just glad he didn't have to listen to the boy whine about his empty stomach the entire time.

They landed on the docks and dismounted Appa, leaving their gear on the bison's back until they had found a suitable place to make camp. The town appeared to be nothing more than a small fishing village, though it was a decent size. There were probably fifteen to twenty wooden buildings in total, though at least four of them seemed to be making up the open air market that extended down the town's main street. Katara counted out the number of coins they had while Aang stepped up next to Zuko, who was looking warily around the town.

"I told you there would be a forest," Aang said, gesturing at the large trees looming behind the buildings. Zuko flashed the boy a small smile, nodding and wiping the anxious expression from his features.

"I guess you were right; maybe we should just land there and make camp." Aang shrugged.

"Katara wants to buy some food, and she knows a lot more about cooking than I do. I might go ahead and see what I can find though." Momo landed on the boy's shoulder, causing him to laugh at the flying lemur. "Looks like Momo wants to go with me. You guys can manage without me, right?"

Zuko nodded, though he wasn't thrilled about spending the day listening to the Water Tribe siblings bicker. Aang opened his glider and took off with Momo behind him, and Zuko turned to the others.

"And where exactly do you think you're gonna find a job here, Sokka?" Katara asked, sounding exasperated. Zuko sighed; they were already going at it.

"I don't know, but there has to be something I can do."

As if on cue, the voice of an elderly woman rang loudly throughout the docks, grabbing the attention of Zuko, Katara, and Sokka. "I'm telling you," she yelled. "A storm is coming!"

The old man she was yelling at paid her no mind, shrugging as he continued loading boxes onto a small fishing boat. "You're crazy, woman! It's a beautiful day, and there isn't a cloud in the sky!"

"My joints are telling me a storm is coming. And a big one, too!" The old man scoffed.

"And my brain is telling me that the weather is perfect."

The woman seemed to realize that he wasn't going to back down, but she was still angry. "Then your brain can haul all those fish for, 'cause I ain't goin'!"

"Fine," the man countered. "I'll find someone else to go, and I'll pay them double!"

A smile crept onto Sokka's face while Katara shot him a worried glance. He spoke before his younger sister could voice her concerns. "I'll go."

The old man looked at him quickly before pointing. "You're hired!" he yelled, causing the woman to huff and walk away angrily.

"Sokka," Katara said, her voice concerned. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean, what if she's right?"

Sokka shrugged. "The weather seems fine to me. Besides, he's paying double!"

The man turned, stopping midway down the stairs to the lower deck of his boat. "Double?" he asked. "Who told you that nonsense?"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko sat staring into the fire as Katara groomed Appa, trying to calm him down. The two had decided to look for a place to stay after Katara had bought some supplies so they could have camp ready when Aang and Sokka had returned. While the town had been surrounded by forest to the east and north, there had been a large cliff face lining the south side, jutting out into the ocean to the west. From their vantage point on the back of Appa, the two had quickly spotted a cave large enough for them all to fit comfortably, and decided it would be a good shelter on the off chance it did begin raining.

He had gotten lucky in the village itself. While Katara shopped for food Zuko had quickly moved through the entire town, searching to make sure there were no wanted posters of him. There hadn't been, though if Sokka's fishing trip took long enough, it was likely that the word would catch up to him, which was decidedly not good.

"Are you hungry?" Katara asked, drawing Zuko from his thoughts.

Zuko nodded. "More tired, but I wouldn't mind eating something."

Katara smiled and starting fishing through their groceries. "Still having trouble getting used to flying, huh?"

"Heh. Something like that."

The waterbender tossed him some fruit and a piece of bread, taking some for herself as well. "Yeah, it takes a while to get used to I guess." Zuko bit into the bread, and although it was a bit stale, was grateful for the relief it provided his stomach. "I thought you fell asleep for a while, though," Katara added.

Zuko scratched the back of his head. "I didn't fall asleep until sometime after sunrise, so I didn't get a lot of sleep."

Katara blushed. "I suppose Sokka and I fighting must have woken you up, huh?" Zuko shrugged, which Katara took as a yes. "Sorry; I know we tend to argue a bit."

Zuko scoffed, though it sounded more malicious than he had intended it to. "That's an understatement." Katara laughed sheepishly, rubbing her shoulder in embarrassment.

"I guess that's just what brothers and sisters do." Zuko nodded, his thoughts turning to his own sister, someone he hadn't thought about in quite some time. "Did you have any siblings?" Katara asked softly, knowing she was bringing up a touchy topic.

"No," Zuko lied.

"Oh… Well, they can be annoying sometimes, but they're always there for you." Zuko had a hard time believing that. Azula would throw him in front of a pack of stampeding platypus-bears without any hesitation. "So even when they get on your nerves, you still love them."

"Must be pretty tough, in your case," Zuko deadpanned. Katara laughed at the joke, despite his serious tone.

"Sokka can be an idiot," she laughed, smiling as she thought of her older brother. "But he's a good brother." Zuko noticed the girl's expression soften, and followed her gaze to the mouth of the cave. It was started to rain outside, and Zuko could tell that the girl was starting to worry.

"I'm sure he's fine," Zuko reassured her. "… Both of them."

Katara smiled, but didn't look comforted. "You should get some sleep," she said, shaking her head and forcing a smile. Zuko hesitated, debating whether or not he should do more to comfort his companion. He remembered the promise he had made to himself before, that he would remain cold until he had made up his mind, and decided to merely nod in agreement.

Katara walked over to Appa's saddle and grabbed one of the sleeping rolls, which she then handed to Zuko. He unrolled it and lied down, shutting his eyes.

The more he tried to tell himself to stay focused, the tougher it became. When he had set off in search of the Avatar, his determination to make his father and his country proud was enough motivation for him to travel the entire world. Now, when he had spent days sharing a camp with the very person he had set out to find, none of it seemed to matter.

Growing up Zuko had been taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest empire in history, and that its people were the best in the world. He was taught that the war was the Fire Nation's way of spreading that greatness with the world, and that the only reason the other nations fought back was because they were evil and savage people.

But Zuko wasn't a child; he was more than old enough to think for himself. And the more he thought about it, the crazier it all seemed. Sure, the Fire Nation had a strong sense of nationalism, but that didn't make them better. In fact, in all his time travelling the Earth Kingdom, Zuko had met some of the best people he knew. They were kind, caring, and usually perfectly normal, although Zuko was convinced that Sokka had something seriously wrong with his mind. Regardless of the boy's unique mannerisms, he was far from evil or savage.

As for the Earth Kingdom itself, its people certainly seemed poorer than in the Fire Nation, but there were some obvious reasons behind that. First of all, Zuko had spent most of his time in the palace and capital city, which were the two richest parts of the Fire Nation. Second, the Earth Kingdom towns he had passed through had almost all been devastated by war, yet their people were still strong and unified.

The Fire Nation's explanations didn't make sense, and Zuko was smart enough to realize that he had been lied to for most of his childhood.

So why was he forcing himself to continue hunting down the Avatar?

Appa groaned, drawing Zuko from his thoughts, and causing him to open one eye. "Shh, Appa," Katara whispered to the bison. Zuko could hear her struggling to lead the creature back out of the cave, and realized that she was probably intending to go after either her brother or Aang. He knew he should stop her, but couldn't force himself to do so.

Instead, he forced his eyes shut and allowed sleep to embrace his tired mind.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_Zuko looked down at the burnt forest, noticing that it looked even worse than the last time. The lurching feeling returned to his stomach, and Zuko was once again shot into the dried up riverbed. He forced his eyes shut; he wouldn't watch himself kill an innocent girl again, and refused to see the crazed look that had been on his face._

_His eyes betrayed him, however, and opened to a similar scene despite his resistance. The man, who he knew to be himself, stood towering over a smaller figure, only this time it wasn't a little girl. The figure looked like Sokka, and Zuko sat in confusion. He wasn't shot into Sokka's body this time, but instead was forced to watch from a distance. He watched himself laugh that horrible, crazed laugh once again as he drew back his fist. Zuko tried to shut his eyes, but they wouldn't listen, and he watched in terror as Sokka was incinerated by his own hand._

_When the smoke receded Zuko had expected to see ashes or a corpse, but instead a new figure replaced the last one. This time it was Kanae, the woman that had healed him after he escaped Zhao's imprisonment. He tried to cry out, to tell her to run, to tell himself to stop, to do anything to avoid watching what he knew was about to unfold. Nothing he tried worked, however, and he watched himself destroy yet another person that had showed him kindness._

_This time the figure was replaced with Suki, and Zuko's stomach twisted in agony. Unlike the previous figures, Zuko could see Suki's face. Her expression was the same as when she had discovered his identity, and seeing the look of betrayal again made him sick with guilt. "You traitor! How could you do this?" she cried. He merely laughed in response, drawing back his fist for yet another finishing blow. Suki screamed as she was engulfed in flames, and Zuko's gut wrenched._

_Had he been able to move, Zuko probably would have thrown up. But he couldn't, and so he was forced to watch as Suki was replaced with Katara, and the same scene carried itself out once again. Katara didn't look betrayed; she looked confused. "Lee? What are you doing?" she asked. Once again Zuko didn't respond, merely laughed and drew his fist back to execute yet another of his friends. Katara's cries of pain were even more sickening than Suki's, and Zuko prayed to any spirit he could think of to make it stop._

_The flames receded once again, this time revealing Aang. His face was calm, with no visible signs of fear. "Why are you doing this?" he asked. "Why are you betraying us, Zuko?" This time the other Zuko tilted his head, waiting for Aang to elaborate. "We're your friends; how can you do this to us?" The Avatar didn't sound hurt, just confused. "We've done nothing but show you kindness. It's your own people that have betrayed you." The other Zuko softened his expression, looking conflicted. "Fire Nation soldiers are hunting you down; Zhao tortured you; your own father burned and banished you. So why would you want to earn their respect? They don't care about you, but we do." A tear made its way down the other Zuko's face, and the boy wordlessly turned and began to walk away._

_As soon as he did, Aang's eyes and tattoos began to glow. Fire erupted from the boy's mouth and hands, and Zuko watched himself be consumed by the flames. He was almost instantly reduced to ashes, and the flames left no trace of the body they had just consumed. Aang turned to face him, and Zuko's vision was filled with fire once again._

He woke up sweating, grabbing at the ground beneath him in a panic. Zuko panted, trying to catch his breath.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't betray the Avatar and his friends. It's not like he was ready to fight _against _his father and his people, but there was no way he would be able to live with himself if he betrayed Aang and Katara. Lying to Suki was painful enough, and he didn't want to go through the same thing again.

Zuko made up his mind. Once the Avatar returned he would tell them all the truth, apologize, and ask for their forgiveness. The prince wasn't about to help the boy take down his father, but helping his father take down a twelve year old boy was no longer an option either. Zuko wasn't sure what he would do or where he would go, but he wasn't going to be a pawn for his father anymore.

He jolted to his feet as he heard Appa groan outside the cave. It was a bit sooner than he had expected, but Zuko was ready to come clean. His mind began racing with all the possibilities of what might happen when Katara came into the cave, soaking wet and carrying some of their supplies.

Groaning, she dropped them haphazardly on the ground and wiped the raindrops that were rolling into her eyes. "You're up," she remarked, noticing Zuko standing in front of her. "Can you help me? Appa won't come back inside the cave, and I don't want our stuff to get soaked." Zuko nodded and joined her in bringing the supplies inside.

"Where did you go? Where are Aang and Sokka?" Katara handed Zuko some of the food from Appa's saddle and then grabbed more to carry herself.

"I went back into town to try to find Aang. I assume Sokka is still fishing; the storm isn't quite as bad anymore."

Zuko nodded in agreement, though the rain was still coming down fairly hard. "I'm sure he's fine. Did you find Aang?"

Katara shook her head. "No. He probably got caught in the rain and took cover. I'm sure we'll be able to find him once it clears up." Zuko nodded as Katara handed more supplies.

The extra time was a bit of a relief to the prince, who was trying to go over exactly what he planned to say. "I've got the rest," Katara said as Zuko placed the rest of his stuff on the floor. The girl got down and made her way into the cave, and Zuko noticed she was heavily over encumbered. She was carrying so much that she couldn't see in front of her, but Zuko didn't blame her; getting out of the rain would be nice.

And then it happened.

All it took was a slight misstep, and the girl was sent tumbling to the ground. The stuff she was carrying was sprawled all over the ground, and she punched the floor in frustration. Zuko laughed slightly after making sure she was okay, and began helping her pick up. He was putting some vegetables back into a sack when Katara spoke, her voice shaky and quiet.

"Wha-what is this?" Zuko's eyes widened and he turned slowly, praying 'this' wasn't what he thought it was.

Katara was holding up his wanted poster, holding it so the picture was facing him. The look on her face was the same look that had been on Suki's, and guilt struck him like a bolt of lightning.

"I… I can explain."

"Explain what?" Katara yelled, anger taking over her confusion and feeling of betrayal. Zuko stood to try and calm her, but the girl stepped away fearfully. "Stay away from me! Y- You were trying to capture Aang, weren't you?"

Zuko hesitated, which was apparently enough of an answer for Katara. "How could you?"

"Katara, I-" he started, but she wouldn't let him finish.

"I don't want to hear it… just… leave!" Zuko couldn't tell if she was crying as she was still soaked from the rain, but her eyes showed more than enough pain for his liking.

"Wait, please," he tried again, this time being met with a poorly placed stream of water. It missed its target, but Zuko got the message just the same. Ashamed and guilty, Zuko dropped his head and turned, leaving her behind without another word.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

It had been two days. Zuko had gone to the forest, mostly because he would be able to find food there. He was lost and alone, and had no idea where to go or what to do. He couldn't force himself to begin lying to people again, but opening with his real identity probably wouldn't earn him many friends either. He also wasn't a fan of staying by himself in the forest. Sokka had been right about one thing: nuts were not a great source of nutrition. Sure they were fine once in a while, but they didn't make very good meals, and they certainly weren't an efficient diet.

Zuko had been falling into a bit of a depression, having had his entire world turned on him in a matter of weeks. First his life as Lee in Kyoshi was destroyed, then he was tortured and hunted by his own people, and then the Avatar and his friends found out about his lie. Although the blame rested solely on himself, Zuko decided he would hold Zhao responsible.

"Katara!" His eyes snapped up as he heard Sokka's voice. "I think I found him!" Zuko's brow furrowed in confusion. Were they still looking for Aang?

Seconds later, the Water Tribe siblings burst through some nearby bushes, and Zuko was face to face with the girl he had betrayed less than forty-eight hours earlier. He took a defensive stance, not wanting to fight them, but not willing to be killed out of anger.

Katara walked up to him, and Zuko could easily discern that she was still angry, but something else seemed to be showing in her expression. …Worry maybe?

He relaxed slightly as the girl showed no signs of attacking. "L- er, _Zuko,_" she started, her voice a mixture of emotions. "We need your help."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: So I know a lot of you were saying that you didn't want the poster to reveal Zuko's identity, but… well, it was important. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and sorry for the graphic nature of Zuko's dreams. Probably could've warned you, but it **_**is **_**rated T, so… whatever. Next chapter we're going to be upping the badassery level, and while I know it is early to be getting to the Blue Spirit, the rest of the stuff in between seems fairly trivial. I also wanted it to happen before Zuko developed too much of a friendship with Aang, and you will see why soon. From here until the end of season one things will be getting fairly AU, and for those of you concerned about Iroh, he will show up soon enough.**

**I want to thank everyone who reviewed once again, and I feel bad about not having responded to as many as I would like to. I'll try to respond to any reviews I can from now on, but if I miss you I swear it isn't personal, just me being either dumb or lazy. I really appreciate the feedback, though I think you guys are being far too kind and positive.**

**Also really quickly, just because I was pumped about it and needed to tell someone, this got added to a community! (I think it was just because the community is based on the plotline of stories, but Imma count it…)**

**Thanks for reading guys, and especially to those who review/follow/favorite.**

**-Boredone32**


	7. Chapter 7

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 7**

**Author's Note: Hey guys! As always I want to thank everyone who reviewed, and would like to briefly address the point brought up by Kimberly T. Zuko's manipulative streak is certainly OOC relative to the canon, but in this story it was developed during his banishment. Said development will be revealed in flashbacks, but they are irrelevant to the story right now, so it will be inserted later. If it is really bugging you now I apologize, but I promise it will make sense in the future. **

**Hope you enjoy chapter seven!**

* * *

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko blinked twice in confusion. Katara seemed to be feeling very conflicted, and Zuko figured she must have been desperate to come asking for his help so soon after she found out his identity.

"What exactly do you need my help _with?_" The entire time Zuko had been using his alias, he had always been focused on making the act as believable as possible. This usually meant displaying patience and positivity in his voice, but now that his cover was blown, he had no more reason to do so. Katara seemed shocked at the change in his attitude, as the previously kind and happy Lee was now sounding impatient, angry, and intimidating.

"It's Aang. He still hasn't come back, and I've been searching for him for two straight days. Sokka came back late yesterday, and we've looked through the entire forest on Appa. We can't find any sign of him."

"So what do you expect me to do?" Zuko snapped. He was losing his temper, angry that the girl who had been so quick to banish him without giving him a chance to defend himself had the audacity to ask for his help so soon.

"Zhao pulled into the port earlier this morning. He hadn't been following us, so Sokka and I think someone told him Aang was here. We're worried he got captured." Zuko could see a pained look in the girl's eyes, but he refused to feel pity for her.

"Again, what do you want _me_ to do? This sounds like your problem, not mine."

Sokka gritted his teeth, stepping in between his younger sister and the firebender. "Based on the way Zhao treated you earlier, I highly doubt you are friends with the guy. If you help us get Aang back you will get the chance to screw him over."

"I couldn't care less if Zhao has the Avatar," Zuko lied. Sokka got even angrier, and Zuko shot him a smug look, daring the boy to start something.

"Either you help us, or we turn you over to Zhao." Zuko scoffed at Sokka's threat, wordlessly calling the boy's bluff.

"Look," Katara cut in, trying to diffuse the situation despite her own anger. "I don't know why you were travelling with us, Zuko, but letting Aang get caught by Zhao surely wasn't the reason. Even if you were lying to us the entire time, I could tell that deep down you aren't a bad person. You know what will happen if we can't get Aang out, and Sokka and I can't do it alone." Katara sounded sincere, but Zuko refused to drop his guard, not wanting to be convinced by such simple words. Katara sighed before continuing. "I should've at least given you a chance to explain yourself, but you have to understand that it was a bit overwhelming learning that someone I had just become friends with was the prince of the Fire Nation. If you want to prove that you aren't our enemy, then please, help us."

Zuko swallowed hard. Surely Katara wasn't seriously considering giving him a chance to redeem himself. She had to be lying; she was just desperate for help. Doing his best to put on an emotionless expression, Zuko responded. "You really expect me to fight against my own people because you want to be friends?" Pain flashed in Katara's eyes, and Zuko swore to himself that he didn't care.

The waterbender blinked back tears at Zuko's apathetic attitude. "Fine," she said, her voice wavering. "Don't do it for us, then. Your own people, or at least Zhao and his men, are hunting you as a traitor already." She was going to continue, but Zuko angrily interrupted her.

"I am _not _a traitor," he growled. "I don't care if Zhao says I am; his opinion means nothing to me."

"If you don't care what he thinks about you, then help us free Aang!" A single tear rolled down her cheek, though whether it stemmed from pain or anger Zuko didn't know.

"Why? Just so I can give him a _reason?"_ Zuko countered, glaring ferociously in the girl's direction.

"You know what? Fine!" Katara yelled, tears running freely from her eyes. "You know that this is wrong, but if you can sit back doing nothing while Zhao kills the world's last hope for peace, go ahead! We were stupid not to see through your lies, and apparently I was even dumber, thinking there was even a chance that you actually cared about us!" Katara turned and began walking away.

Sokka grabbed her shoulder and walked beside her, comforting her as they went along. Zuko shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the battle going on in his mind. He knew Katara was right, and he despised Zhao. Regardless of his loyalties to his father and his people, there was a certain point when he had no choice, and this was it.

"Wait," he called, his voice dropping. He took a deep breath as Sokka and Katara turned back to him.

"I'll see what I can do."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko groaned inwardly as he heard the snap of yet another branch coming from behind him. He, Sokka, and Katara were following Zhao and his men, from a distance of a little more than a hundred yards. The goal was to follow the group of about ten soldiers as quietly as possible, but neither of the Water Tribe siblings seemed to be able to move ten feet without making some sort of noise.

The teens had decided to try to find Aang by following Zhao, who they assumed knew the boy's whereabouts. After waiting for nearly an hour at the port, the commander had exited his ship with a small group of men. They immediately headed through the village and into the forest, which likely meant Zhao knew exactly where he was going.

Zuko had been tracking the group for a little over two hours, and Sokka and Katara had both gotten lazy with regards to their stealth. Neither of the two seemed to care if they made noise, and Sokka had even had the audacity to complain about being hungry a few minutes earlier. Said complaint had been met by a ferocious glare from Zuko, and the Water Tribe boy had said nothing since.

Convinced that Sokka and Katara would surely give away their position, Zuko had moved progressively more slowly to allow more distance between the soldiers and themselves. Unfortunately, it seemed that the further behind they were, the more noise Sokka and Katara made.

Zuko stopped suddenly, holding his right arm out to stop Sokka and Katara as well. The trees were thinning out, and if they moved much further they would risk losing their cover. "Stay here," he whispered. "I'm going to see if there is a way to keep moving without being too visible."

Sokka and Katara both nodded silently in response, and Zuko began creeping forward. Staying low to the ground and treading as lightly as possible, the prince made no noise as he snuck his way toward the clearing. He could soon see cart tracks on a dirt road just ahead of him, and as he got closer to the road, a structure came into view to the north. It was a massive wall, with guard towers spaced intermittently about its perimeter. There was a massive gate near the entrance, which Zuko could see was being closed, likely behind Zhao and his men. Sitting just above the gate was a massive flag, blood red with the Fire Nation insignia on it.

As Zuko stepped out onto the road he sighed audibly, relaxing his stance. He recognized the fortress as the Pohuai Stronghold, home of the Yu Yan archers and one of the most impenetrable fortresses owned by the Fire Nation. Shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose, Zuko turned and walked back to Katara and Sokka, making no effort to move stealthily.

"Well," he started, "this could be a problem."

"Do they have Aang?" Katara asked, her voice hopeful.

"I… assume so. They're holed up in Pohuai Fortress; it's considered one of the most secure Fire Nation strongholds in the world." Katara's hopeful expression dropped, but Sokka had a look of determination on his face.

"So what's the plan?" the Water Tribe warrior asked. "How do we get in?"

"We don't," Zuko replied curtly. He started walking back in the direction of the village they had just come from, with Sokka and Katara immediately behind him.

"What do you mean we don't?" Katara asked, trying to match the prince's quick pace. "We can't just leave him there; you said you would help."

Zuko groaned audibly in frustration. "_I _am going to help. You two are going to stay back and keep from getting caught."

"Are you crazy?" Sokka asked. "Why would you go in by yourself? You'll need our help."

Zuko stopped and sighed in exasperation. He turned back to Sokka and Katara. "Okay, look. I am not going to go charging in there looking for a fight; I'm going to try to get in without being seen, get Aang, and get out. You two are about as stealthy as Komodo Rhinos, so I am going alone."

"What if you get caught?" Sokka countered. "You'll need help if you have to fight off the soldiers."

"I can handle myself; I'm more than capable of handling a few soldiers."

"I thought you said you didn't want to give Zhao a reason to call you a traitor," Katara pointed out.

"That's why were headed back to the village; I'm going to get a disguise," Zuko explained, his patience being tested.

"Even if they can't see your face, they will know it is you when you use your bending," Sokka stated as Zuko began walking again.

"I'm not going to use my bending." Zuko was getting annoyed, and he was sure his tone expressed it.

"How do you plan to fight without your bending?" Katara asked.

Zuko huffed and partially unsheathed the broadswords on his back, answering Katara's question. "You really think you can handle Fire Nation soldiers with swords? You're a bender, not a swordsman," Sokka said.

"How about you guys just trust me?" Zuko snapped, exasperated.

"Gee, 'cause if the past has proven anything, it's that _you're _trustworthy," Katara bitterly retorted. Zuko groaned and ran his hand down his face. That was _not _a good choice of words.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Suki sighed as she finally finished her shift. Guarding the ferries to Ba Sing Se wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she and the other warriors set off to begin helping in the war effort. Sure, they were making a difference and helping, but it wasn't nearly as… exciting as she had hoped. Guard duty was actually impressively monotonous, and it took all her effort to keep her mind from wandering back to things she didn't want to think about.

The Kyoshi Warriors had a small camp that was just outside the ferry grounds, mostly so they could get away from all of the chaos when they were sleeping and eating. It was just a small collection of tents with a campfire, but it was peaceful and more comfortable than being packed into a small space with hundreds, if not thousands, of refugees. The ferry service provided them with food in exchange for their services as guards, so the warriors didn't have to worry about hunting or foraging for food.

Making her way through the masses of displaced refugees, Suki wondered what the other girls had been cooking. She finally made it past the most crowded area and could walk normally the rest of the way to the camp. The smell of stewed sheep-pig made its way to her nose, which crinkled in disgust. They were probably trying to get all the older meat used up before it went bad.

"There you are," one of the warriors said as Suki approached. "We just got this poster; we thought you would want to see it."

Suki took the poster and looked at it, immediately recognizing the face. It was a wanted poster for Zuko. Suki's temper flared and she threw the poster back at the other warriors. "Why would I want to see that? Why should I care if he's wanted?"

The three warriors sitting below her looked at each other with nervous glances, but one of them spoke up, apparently the most courageous of the three. "Well, if he's wanted by the Fire Nation, which means he got away from Zhao. That's a good thing, right?"

Suki scoffed. "Why would that be good?"

"Well," the girl started, obviously uncomfortable. "He _did _save most of the village from burning to death… Even if he _was_ a firebender, he was a good guy." Suki huffed, offering no rebuttal. "And," the girl added, "he was your friend."

Suki glared at her. "He was _not _my friend. He lied and betrayed me, and I don't care what happens to him."

"I think you're lying." The other warriors usually didn't argue with their leader, but Suki knew she had been distant ever since Zuko had left Kyoshi, and most of the girls were sick of her attitude.

"I don't have to take this. I'm going to my tent," Suki growled, storming off to her tent.

She lied down on her sleeping roll, trying to avoid thinking about just how right the other warriors had been.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Night had just fallen and the sun had finally set behind the mountains to the west. Zuko had staked out the fortress for most of the day with Katara and Sokka, and had noticed that supply carts ran in and out of the fortress about once every two hours. Guards would search each cart to make sure the cargo was there and nothing else was hitching a ride, but that was exactly what Zuko intended to do. He just hoped the carts continued their runs into the night.

Waiting by the road in his all black outfit and blue and white mask, Zuko mentally prepared himself. He had never been to Pohuai Fortress before, but knew enough about Fire Nation strongholds to have a slight idea of the inner structure. There would most likely be a piping system running through the interior with an opening somewhere inside the fortress. Water would be run into the fortress from this, and while openings would normally be on the outside, a fortress like Pohuai would not be able to afford risking an alternate entrance or exit for potential enemies.

The inner part of the building was a complete mystery to Zuko, but he knew it wasn't terribly large. All he would have to do is find the most secluded room used to keep prisoners and he would be good to go. There would likely be guards outside the door, but hopefully no more than a handful. Zuko planned to be as stealthy as possible, but hoped above all else that he at least managed to avoid the Yu Yan Archers. They were famous for their accuracy and precision, and archers were not something Zuko was fond of fighting, especially when he couldn't rely on his bending.

The sound of a cart approaching drew him from his thoughts, and Zuko took his position. He was easily able to board the cart without being detected, and got into cargo storage without trouble. The ride to the fortress took about five minutes, which Zuko spent going over his plan to avoid the guards' cargo search.

The cart stopped, and Zuko immediately made his way underneath. A guard peeked into the back of the cart, and Zuko held on to the underside until the man's feet started to move. Zuko quickly climbed back into the storage area, and the guards were apparently satisfied, as the cart began to move again.

Climbing silently out of the cart, Zuko dove off the back and landed, rolling forward behind a large set of crates. There were a few guards patrolling the outside, but it seemed less policed than he had expected. Unfortunately, he was having trouble seeing through the darkness, and could really only detect anything that was lit by the torches the guards were carrying. He finally managed to find the piping system, but it was behind two more gates. The grates on the floor appeared to line the entire inner area.

There was no way he could sprint through all three gates without alerting the entire fortress, and his only other way in appeared to be a staircase that he assumed led to the top of the second wall. Checking to make sure he wouldn't be seen, Zuko ran into the small doorway and ascended the stairway, which led him straight to the top of the second wall. He peeked up to see if any guards were nearby, and was relieved to see that the only two that were in sight were staring toward the center of the fortress. Zuko moved up and snuck in the other direction, looking for a way down the wall and into the next opening.

Zuko saw a ladder of ridges leading down the other side, and took the opportunity to climb down them without being seen. As he reached the bottom a guard was walking past, and Zuko's breath hitched as the man walked by. The next few seconds seemed to take an eternity, and Zuko refused to even blink out of fear of being detected. Luckily he seemed to blend into the shadows well enough, and the guard continued on, completely oblivious. Exhaling in relief, Zuko worked his way forward, finding the staircase that led to the next wall with no trouble.

The prince expected a bit more trouble at the top of this wall, but was surprised to see that, once again, the guards all seemed to be distracted by something going on in the middle of the fortress. Curiosity gnawed at him, but Zuko forced himself to move on before one of the soldiers decided to focus on their job again. He worked his way down the wall without any trouble, and made his way to the piping system with equally little resistance. Realizing no one was nearby, Zuko decided to try and figure out what everyone had been so distracted by.

Finally looking toward the center of Pohuai, Zuko saw a massive crowd, at least one hundred soldiers, staring at a balcony on the central tower. Standing on it was a man, and though it was too far away to say for sure, Zuko felt confident that said man was Zhao. Zuko could faintly make out the sounds of a speech, but felt it was unimportant, and decided to get back to his task.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"_Uncle, I don't want to study defensive firebending. I am trying to capture the Avatar, not get through basic training!" Iroh shook his head and smiled as his nephew angrily resisted his attempted teaching. _

"_Ah, but nephew, the basics are the most important aspect of firebending. Your breath, your stance, and your forms can make all the difference in a fight." _

"_I understand that, but I am already good at all of those things! I need to learn the advanced moves if I'm going to beat the master of all four elements!" Zuko growled, glaring up at his uncle in annoyance and anger._

"_I never said this wasn't advanced training, Prince Zuko. It is an advanced technique; it just happens to be defense oriented." Zuko started to argue, but Iroh raised a hand to stop him before he continued. "And, if the Avatar has mastered all four elements, you will likely need to be able to defend yourself from fire, as well as earth, water, and air." Zuko sighed, but seemed to see the validity of his uncle's claim._

"_Fine, whatever. Let's just get this over with."_

_Iroh nodded, smiling softly. "Very well. First, tell me: what are the main ways to defend yourself from fire?"_

_Zuko rolled his eyes in annoyance at such a simple question, but answered anyway. "Dodging, dissipating, and absorbing. You can move to avoid the strike, break it completely by overpowering it, or use your own fire to absorb the blow."_

"_That's correct," Iroh started, "but there is a fourth way." Zuko's brow raised in interest, though he didn't bother telling his uncle to continue. "During my time in the Earth Kingdom, I learned quite a bit about their bending style. Earthbenders are controlling an element that is already in front of them; they do not produce it like firebenders." Zuko nodded slowly, confused as to why his uncle was so set on stating such obvious things._

"_Earth cannot be absorbed like fire, but earthbenders do not necessarily have to break an opponent's strike to avoid it."_

"_Of course not," Zuko interrupted. "They can just dodge it."_

_Iroh laughed. "I suppose they could, but most earthbenders are reluctant to break their stances unless absolutely necessary. No, the way most master earthbenders avoid taking hits is by deflecting the earth elsewhere. Because they are bending an element they didn't produce, they have just as much control over their enemy's attacks as their enemy themselves. When the rock is closer to them, they have more control over it, and can change its direction. Some are good enough to completely redirect it to their opponents."_

_Zuko exhaled in annoyance. "That's a nice story uncle, but I don't see how it applies to me. You can only move fire to the side by absorbing it with your own flames first, and I can already do that."_

"_Well, that's not entirely true, nephew." Iroh smiled as the look on Zuko's face clearly said he wasn't convinced. "Allow me to demonstrate. Fire at that table, if you could," Iroh said, pointing at the table his dinner was resting on. _

_Zuko rolled his eyes, but decided to humor the old general. He fired a blast of flames at the table. Just as the table was about to be hit, the flames turned to the right, about ninety degrees. Iroh had not shot a single flame, and Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. "Wha… what did you-" he sputtered. "How?" he finally managed, his voice demanding._

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Suki was still lying in her tent, staring at Zuko's dagger as she thought. She had realized that by avoiding the problem she was only making it worse, and decided to try and think through the whole situation to get everything sorted.

Unfortunately, it was proving to be more difficult than she had thought.

Zuko _had _helped save the villagers, both by getting rid of the flames and by turning himself over to Zhao so the commander would leave. The only thing he had said after revealing his identity was _'I never meant to hurt any of you,'_ but Suki couldn't decide what that meant. Had he simply intended to live out his entire life as Lee, never bothering to tell them the truth? Maybe he was intending to tell her, but only after he felt safe doing so. Revealing that he was prince of the Fire Nation surely wouldn't be an easy thing to do, but lying as long as he did couldn't have been easy either.

The more she thought about her time with Zuko, the more questions she had. Had everything he said been a lie? Why was he there in the first place? Why hadn't he ever attacked them or contacted the Fire Nation? Had they really bonded, or was he merely taking advantage of her? Did he care about her at all? She also had a lot of things to say to him, but more than anything, Suki wanted answers.

And she was going to get them.

Making up her mind, Suki got up and made her way out of her tent. It was dark outside, and she knew she would have to wait until the morning, but she needed someone to cover her shift for… well, she wasn't sure how long.

"Hey guys," she said as she approached the other warriors, who now numbered seven. "I'm going to need someone to cover for me for a while." The girls looked at her in confusion, and she continued.

"I'm going after Zuko."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko hadn't expected the main tower of Pohuai to be so tall. He had already climbed at least fifteen sets of stairs, and they seemed to continue upward endlessly. Luckily the majority of the guards seemed to be attending Zhao's speech, as the prince had yet to come across more than three or four since entering the tower.

Turning another corner, Zuko sighed inwardly as the top floor finally came into view. He slowly moved to the doorway, his back against the wall as he peaked around the side and into the corridor. Two soldiers were standing guard, and there was another hallway that split in two directions at the end of the corridor. The guards were talking to each other, so Zuko took the chance to ambush them.

Sprinting at full speed, Zuko managed to get on top of the soldiers before they had time to react, and Zuko was quick to subdue them with as little struggle as possible. The first man went down with a blow from the hilt of his sword to the back of the head. The second tried to draw his weapon, but Zuko managed to separate his blades and use them to simultaneously hit the man on both sides of the head, knocking him out cold as well.

Unfortunately the man groaned in pain as he went out, which likely attracted the attention of any nearby guards. Zuko didn't have any idea what that number might be, but he wasn't in the business of taking unnecessary risks. Using the wall to kick off, Zuko managed to climb the wall until he was high enough up the ceiling to reach from one end to the other. His feet on one end and his hands on the other, Zuko managed to push hard enough to keep himself up.

After a couple of seconds of straining his muscles, two more guards walked into the hallway. They checked to see if their counterparts were okay before looking hastily around the hallway for whatever had knocked them unconscious. Once one of the guards was directly below him, Zuko allowed himself to drop, landing with his feet on the man's back. Zuko pushed forward onto the man's head, and it hit the ground with enough force to knock his helmet off. Zuko wheeled to his left, blocking the other soldier's spear as it was aimed for his back.

Quickly separating his swords again, Zuko used the free blade to cut the spear's shaft, rendering the weapon useless. The man pulled out a throwing knife, but Zuko finished him before he could release it. Realizing that any other guards would likely be calling for reinforcements at this point, Zuko knew he needed to hurry. He grabbed the knife and sprinted to the end of the hall, turning left to see three more guards in front of a large door about fifteen feet away. One of the men was holding a horn, which Zuko assumed was to sound for backup.

He threw the knife, which luckily made contact with its target. Zuko then dashed forward, gracefully sidestepping and rolling over and under the bursts of fire that were sent in his direction. He kicked his leg at the feet of the guards, knocking two of them to the ground. The third man had jumped over the attack, and Zuko rose up, following it with an uppercut that landed perfectly into the man's lower jaw.

The two soldiers on the ground struggled to get back to their feet, but Zuko quickly dispatched them, knocking them into the wall and leaving their unconscious forms sprawled haphazardly over each other. Satisfied that there were no more guards, Zuko began searching them for a key. He finally managed to find it, and quickly unlocked the door. Closing it behind him, the prince slipped inside to find Aang, his hands and feet chained to two pillars on either side of him.

Zuko drew his swords and wordlessly approached the boy, who had a look of confusion and fear on his face. Just as he was getting close enough to cut the boy's restraints, Zuko heard the door open and shut behind him. "Well, well, well," came a familiar voice that froze Zuko in his tracks. "What have we here?"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: I know that is a mean place to end, but the rest of this scene is far too long to fit into this chapter, so I had to cut it short. Sorry.**

**As for this flashback, the idea stemmed from me rewatching a lot of the episodes. I realized that firebenders never bent other people's flames, but that didn't make much sense. They could bend flames that were not theirs, but never bothered to redirect opponent's strikes. I figured that if anyone was good enough to figure it out, it was Iroh, and since he learned to redirect lightning from watching waterbenders, I wanted him to learn something from earthbenders as well. **

**As for the Blue Spirit mask, I think it is safe to assume that Zuko could have bought one with the money Sokka made fishing or he could have stolen it. It seemed like a fairly arbitrary detail, so I left it out.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter, and I want to make a special shout out to all of my reviewers, as I have already gotten 50, which is a personal record. You guys all rock!**

**Thanks,**

**-Boredone32**


	8. Chapter 8

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 8**

**Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for such a late update. I got distracted with an essay, a midterm, and… videogames, and couldn't find the time/motivation to get this written and posted. My sincerest apologies, as all of your lovely comments on the last chapter merited a much timelier update. Picking up right from where I left off though, here is the rest of the Blue Spirit action.**

**Also, a brief language warning. This is rated T, so the language isn't bad, but there are a couple of not nice things said by everyone's favorite side-burned admiral.**

**Hope you guys enjoy it, and thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Zuko immediately sank into a stance, turning the hollow eyes of his mask to face the sideburn lined face of the firebending commander. "You sure have some interesting friends, Avatar," Zhao remarked, calmly stepping into the room, a look of intrigue etched on his face.

Zuko hadn't known Zhao terribly well before his banishment or his stay on Kyoshi, but he knew that the man liked to gloat. Sensing that the commander was likely about to do so, Zuko decided to take advantage and get the first move. He lunged toward Aang, trying to cut the shackles and release the boy, giving them a major advantage.

Zhao was surprisingly quick to react, cutting Zuko off with a wall of flames and forcing him back, away from the captive. "Interesting and rude. Weren't you ever taught to respect your superiors?" Zuko smirked behind his mask at the irony of Zhao considering himself Zuko's superior. "No? Well then, looks like I'll have to teach you myself."

Zhao struck forward, launching a wave of fire at his masked opponent, who quickly dodged away from Aang and retook a stance. Zuko hadn't fought in quite some time, and his arms and legs still weren't fully recovered. Defeating Zhao by himself without his bending seemed like a daunting task, and one the banished prince wasn't looking forward to. Regardless, he steeled himself for Zhao's next attack, looking for some sort of opening to close the distance between them.

Zuko weaved between two subsequent fireballs, but had to spin away from a stream of flames that licked at his mask. It seemed that Zhao had already figured out his strategy, as the commander forced him back every time he started moving forward. Luckily, Zuko had been able to gain distance between himself and Aang, keeping the defenseless airbender out of harm's way. Now he could be more aggressive without risk of collateral damage.

Taking the offensive, Zuko began moving forward more aggressively, striking through the first of Zhao's attempted attacks. He sidestepped another but was forced back by a third wave, this one coming horizontally so there was no room to dodge. As soon as the flames dissipated Zuko was moving forward again, not wanting to allow Zhao the time to recover. The commander's attacks were growing more frantic the closer Zuko got, and the swordsman knew he was getting close. Just as Zuko was pulling within range of his swords, Zhao lunged forward, using both of his arms to propel a large blast of fire at Zuko, who used his swords and a bit of disguised firebending to avoid taking the attack head on. It still forced him backward, and he lost his balance long enough for Zhao to continue the assault.

Now that he was defending again, Zuko could feel himself slowly losing ground as he slashed and dodged through the oncoming flames. After using both his swords to cut through a particularly large blast, Zuko noticed a momentary ceasefire, and took advantage of the time to catch his breath. His time on Kyoshi had passed with very little activity, and the lethargic days of bartending had taken their toll on the firebender's strength and endurance. He made a mental note to resume practicing when he had the spare time.

Zhao was breathing heavily, a look of anger and frustration in his eyes as he glared at Zuko. "You're quite the evasive one, aren't you?" Zuko retook an offensive stance, offering no signs of a pending response. "Unfortunately, your little friend there doesn't have quite the same… movability." Zuko's eyes widened as Zhao turned toward Aang, who was practically on the opposite side of the room.

"I wasn't going to kill you, as you would simply be reincarnated into the Water Tribes, but it won't matter. Both of the Water Tribes will have fallen by year's end, and soon the war will be over. Hunting down a newborn will be much easier than finding you ever was." Zhao stepped forward, putting all of his effort into a massive wave of fire that hurtled in Aang's direction.

Aang screamed as his vision filled with the red and orange wave of death headed directly at his face. Without thinking, Zuko dropped into a wider stance, stepping forward and focusing all of his energy on the flames Zhao had created. Having not practiced in nearly half a year, his ability to move the flames had weakened significantly, but he was able to redirect them just enough to miss the Avatar, instead sending them crashing into one of the pillars said Avatar was chained to.

When the smoke cleared and Zhao saw that Aang was still standing, his eyes widened in confusion as he tried to process what had happened. By the time he had turned toward where Zuko had been standing, the hilt of a sword was already crashing down on his head. The blow sent him crashing to the ground, sliding painfully across the floor before he crashed into the nearest wall.

Zuko quickly made his way to Aang and sliced through the boy's restraints before sprinting for the door.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Suki sighed in relief as she finally made it to the door of the inn. She hadn't exactly known where to start looking for Zuko, but had managed to make some educated guesses. Since he had been captured by Zhao, Zuko was likely headed in the same direction as the Avatar. She knew from talking to Sokka that they were intending on going to the North Pole, so it stood to reason that her best bet would be heading north after she hit the coastline.

Traveling lightly and on her own allowed the warrior to make great time, and she had already hit a small port town after only a day. Unfortunately, her increased pace left her no time to look for any clues as to where either Zuko or the Avatar had gone, so she was still unsure if she was even heading in the right direction.

When the warrior entered the modest inn, she was greeted with the sight of a simple, plain lobby, with a small, older man cleaning the counter. Upon the sound of the door closing, the man looked up, smiling brightly at the sight of the young traveler. "Ah, hello," he greeted cheerfully as Suki approached the counter. "What can I do for you?"

Suki smiled back at the man, pulling her coin purse from her outfit. "I just need a room for the night, unless you have a place to eat as well?"

The man shook his head as he took the coins Suki offered him. "Sadly we don't, but there is a great little diner just down the road, if you're hungry."

"I'll check it out, thank you," Suki replied, nodding her head slightly.

"Great. Let me show you to your room; right this way." The man motioned for Suki to follow him as he set off down a hallway to their right. Suki was glad she would finally be relieved from carrying her bag of supplies, and looked forward to sleeping in an actual bed again, after camping in tents with the other warriors for so long. "That is quite an interesting uniform you have there. Are you by chance from Kyoshi Island?"

Suki had donned her Kyoshi Warrior gear before leaving, as it was warmer and offered better protection than the guard uniform she had been wearing at the ferry system. "Yep, I split up from the other Kyoshi warriors a few days ago."

"Ha," the man laughed lightly to himself, "we've been getting all sorts of interesting travelers lately." This immediately caught Suki's attention, her fatigue from travelling all day gone with the thought of a potential lead. "Iwatoshi isn't normally this busy this time of year."

"Who else has been here?" Suki asked excitedly, praying for some sort of clue as to where Zuko was, or at least a sign of where he was headed.

"Well, the Avatar and some kids from the Water Tribe stayed in this very inn a couple of days ago. And they were being tracked down by some Fire Nation soldiers." Suki was glad to hear that she was on the right track for finding the Avatar and Zhao, but was slightly disappointed at the lack of anything regarding Zuko. "Oh! Then there was that young scarred boy that Kanae was taking care of."

Suki's eyes widened and her heart leapt. "Scarred boy? Do you happen to know what his name was, or where he was headed?" The man stopped to open the door to Suki's room as he thought to himself for a moment.

"Hmmm, couldn't say. But Kanae would certainly know his name at least. I never saw him; just heard that he had been beaten nearly half to death. If it wasn't for Kanae's healing abilities he probably woulda been dead. Or at least, that's what I heard." It wasn't quite the answer she was hoping for, but after she got some food Suki would be sure to see what Kanae could tell her. Hopefully she had some idea of what had happened to Zuko.

After thanking the man for the room and dropping off her stuff, Suki headed to the diner to buy a bite to eat before she went to see Kanae. Normally the warrior would find food for herself or eat some of what she had brought with her, but she was unfamiliar with the territory, and wasn't sure when her next stop would be, or when she would get another chance for a warm meal.

The diner was small and quaint, with almost no customers besides herself and a small family. She ate her meal quickly before thanking the owner and asking where to find the town's healer. The woman lived on the far edge of town, so Suki had to walk back across the entire town to get there. It was getting late, and she was still tired from her journey, especially considering how early in the morning she had started, but she wanted to learn what she could tonight so she could set off early again the next morning.

She came to the small hospital that she had been told Kanae lived in, and knocked on the door. "Just a second!" called a woman from inside. Suki heard waited for a moment, listening to the sound of the woman's footsteps approaching the door. It opened to reveal the face of an older woman, probably somewhere in her forties, smiling but analyzing Suki as she greeted her. "How can I help you?"

The woman opened the door all the way, gesturing for Suki to come in. She smiled slightly before doing so, addressing the older woman politely. "Are you Kanae?" she asked.

"I am," the woman replied warmly. "Are you sick? You don't look injured…" Suki noticed that Kanae was still analyzing her, and realized that the woman was probably used to most of her visitors being patients.

"Uh, no. I heard you had a… interesting patient the other day. I'm looking for a friend of mine, and I think he may have been here." Kanae looked at Suki suspiciously for a moment, before seemingly confirming something to herself.

"You mean the young man who was being chased by the Fire Nation?" Suki nodded. "Was your friend named Lee?" Suki nodded again, although hesitantly this time, as the pain of 'Lee's' betrayal was still fresh in her memory. "The young scarred boy?" Suki nodded again, this time with more conviction. "He left here about… four days ago. I'm not exactly sure where he was going, but I know he left with the Avatar and his friends. Are you from Kyoshi Island as well?"

Suki and Kanae continued to talk for a while. Suki told her that Lee was her friend, and that she was worried about what had happened to him since he had been taken by the Fire Nation, which wasn't entirely untrue. Kanae told Suki about Zuko's injuries, and that he had been determined to catch up with the Avatar before the monk left town. When Suki had finally asked all the questions she had, she thanked Kanae and began heading back to the inn.

Thoughts of what had happened to Zuko on Zhao's ship made her sick, and even though she was still angry with him, she hoped that he hadn't been captured again. Knowing that she was four days behind them and that she was on foot while they could fly through the air on Appa made the warrior concerned that she wouldn't be able to catch up to them, but she figured if she couldn't catch them by the time she hit the northern coastline she would give up, and go try to find her family in Ba Sing Se instead.

Before she got back to the inn, Suki looked out over the ocean, watching as the sun began to sink below the surface. Thoughts of her time with 'Lee' made their way back into her mind, and her heart sank knowing that it had been based on a lie. _"My mother and I used to watch the sun set whenever we were near water."_ Zuko's words rang in her head, the sadness in his voice sounding far too real to be completely a lie. _"She used to tell me that even something as dangerous and destructive as fire could be beautiful in its own way."_ She couldn't help but laugh to herself at the hidden meaning she now saw behind his words, and she didn't bother trying to stop the lone tear that made its way down her cheek at the thought.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko dropped to his knees, sliding under the approaching sword of one of the seemingly endless number of guards that surrounded him. He and Aang had made it back to the ground level of Pouhai undisturbed, and had been trying to sneak out without being detected when Zhao had barged onto the upper deck, shouting at his men to find them and close the gates. Then the mad dash had begun.

Aang seemed to have some sort of superhuman speed, as the young airbender had shot forward almost instantaneously upon making the decision to run. Zuko always considered himself to be fast, but the bald monk was nearly twice his speed. Of course, this meant that all the guards were late getting to Aang, and instead were focusing their attention on him. Dodging, fighting, weaving, and blocking were not conducive to increasing his pace, and Zuko was beginning to think he wasn't going to make it out.

Apparently Aang noticed this as well, as he had stopped in his tracks, and appeared to be deciding whether or not he should go back to help his masked savior. Aang was already through the first of the three gates, but it was now blocked by a row of guards, cutting Zuko off from the Avatar. Zuko didn't slow as he approached the men, instead merely drew his swords and prepared for their imminent attack. Apparently they were a large group of firebenders, as none of them had weapons.

Luckily, Zuko recognized their stances, and could predict what most of them were intending to do. He slashed through the first man's strike, not breaking stride as he spun to avoid the second. He put his swords together mid-spin opting to try something he had picked up from one of his sister's childhood friends. The next wave of fire came in the form of a horizontal slice, which was what Zuko had been expecting. He slid under it, sheathing his sword as he ducked under the flames. He had not been expecting the next blast quite so soon, but had just enough time to dissipate the flames with his bending before they incinerated him.

Kicking his feet up, Zuko threw his weight forward, flipping onto his hands merely a foot from the line of soldiers. He wasn't nearly the acrobat Ty Lee was, but had just enough arm strength to launch himself over the ducking soldier's head. Landing awkwardly, Zuko drew his swords again as he regained his balance. He glanced around quickly and noticed that Aang was missing, and although he couldn't blame the kid for wanting to get out, he was a bit annoyed that Aang was willing to leave him for dead.

Blocking a spear launched at him, Zuko separated his swords and continued making his way toward the gate, his tired legs trying as hard as they could to propel him to freedom. The second and third gates were far closer than the first was to the fortress, but Zuko was certain there was no way to get out in time. He was barely past the second gate when the third closed completely, the second closing simultaneously to block any path of retreat. Zuko wanted to search for another exit, but the endless flow of soldiers was preventing him from doing so.

Not having time to think, Zuko continued fighting his way toward the final gate, slashing up weapons and incapacitating soldiers as he went. The rush he got from all the action was exhilarating, and the familiar feeling of battle was bringing back his old strength and skill. Zuko figured he'd probably be enjoying himself if everyone he was fighting wasn't aiming for his head.

Zuko had finally made it to the gate, but it was a hollow victory as the exit had long since been sealed. His back literally against a wall, Zuko looked around for some sort of escape, finding himself completely surrounded by soldiers, outnumbered at least twenty to one. Fighting them off would be irrelevant, as there was nowhere he could go to in the event he somehow managed to take them all down. Still, he had no intention of going down without a fight.

Just as the braver of the soldiers moved to make his strike, a large gust of wind sounded from above, followed by the shouts of some of the guards patrolling the wall. Moments later the gate creaked, and slowly started working its way open again. Aang dropped down by Zuko's side, who realized with relief that the young monk had managed to reopen the gate rather than abandoning him. The gate had massive spikes that interconnected when they gate was sealed, and as it slowly opened, the spikes were the only thing preventing Aang and Zuko's escape.

"Don't let them out! Dead or alive, the Avatar cannot leave this fortress!" Zhao's voice rang out across the grounds, sparking the soldiers into action. A large group of firebenders lunged forward, launching a synchronized blast of fire at Aang, whose eyes widened in panic. He moved to try and block the blast, but Zuko jumped in front of him, countering the flames with his own, and causing the two to be encased in a ball of fire. He backed up step by step, keeping his flames focused on those of the soldiers, giving them cover.

When they were just outside the gate, Zuko released his flames, and the two took off running away from the fortress as fast as they could.

By the time the flames and smoke had cleared, Zhao and his men could barely make out the two figures sprinting away in the distance. Eyes widened in anger, Zhao turned to his last resort. "Shoot him down. I am taking the Avatar to the Firelord, even if I am dragging his corpse there." The archer nodded, drawing his bow. Squinting in concentration and aiming for the back of the airbender's head, he released the arrow, sending it whizzing away through the night.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"That was close!" Aang yelled to his mysterious companion as they continued sprinting away from the fortress. Zuko didn't respond, as he still wasn't comfortable with the distance they had put between themselves and Zhao. "I'm glad they didn't send more of those archers after us," Aang continued.

Zuko's eyes widened behind his mask. How had he forgotten the Yu Yan Archers? They should have been running on a swivel. Knowing they could be hit any second, Zuko lunged at Aang, tackling him to the ground. "Ugh!" Aang yelled as they hit the ground, Zuko groaning when they stopped sliding. "What was that for?" Aang asked, slightly angered with his masked companion.

Zuko was still on the ground, grabbing his shoulder and groaning in pain. He forced himself up slowly with his left hand, struggling to stay balanced as he got to his feet. Aang could see the end of an arrow sticking out from his shoulder, and his eyes widened with realization. "I'm fine," Zuko said, noticing the boy's expression. "We need to get out of here." Zuko started to move again, his movements slowed by the pain, but Aang made no move to follow him.

"Lee?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly in surprise.

"We need to leave," Zuko repeated, this time more forcefully. "Now!"

Aang shook his head before nodding and following his companion into the cover of the forest.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Well?" Zhao demanded. "Did you hit him?"

"No," the archer replied calmly, his voice more fascinated than disappointed. "The other one tackled him just before my arrow would have hit. Impressive timing…"

"Dammit!" Zhao shouted, flames shooting from his fists in frustration.

"Sir," a new voice came, turning Zhao's attention behind him. "We did a head count, sir. Everyone is alive, but some of the men received some serious injuries."

"I don't give a damn about the men!" Zhao barked, scaring the messenger behind him. "How did one freak in a mask get past all of my men, into the tower, and all the way to the Avatar without being caught?" The other man offered no response, silently cowering in front of his commanding officer. "And then how did said freak and a little kid manage to get past all of my guards once again, and get out of the fortress unharmed?"

"To be fair, sir," the man started timidly. "That _kid_ is the Avatar, and-"

"Do you think I care if he is the Avatar?" Zhao roared. "He can only bend one element, and he is a twelve year old boy!"

"Still, sir. He's the Avatar, and he bent fire back at the men when they were getting out of the gate."

"The Avatar can't even bend water!" Zhao yelled again, having completely lost his temper.

"Well I don't know what to tell you, sir," the man replied, still mortified by his superior's temper.

"There is nothing to say! Some of the Fire Nation's 'best soldiers' just got beat up by a kid and a masked maniac. No one was bending fire at…" Zhao trailed off as his fight with the 'masked maniac' replayed in his head. Zhao wasn't one to miss a non-moving target, and something had to stop his flames from hitting the monk. "Son of a bitch…" Zhao cursed under his breath.

"I'm sorry sir? I didn't quite catch that last part."

"That little brat has gotten the best of me for the last time," Zhao said, pointedly walking back toward the fortress.

"The Avatar, sir? I'm sure we'll get him next time…" the soldier replied, following a few steps behind Zhao.

"Not the Avatar. That traitor of a prince. I'll have his head for this."

"Prince Zuko? You can't seriously think that swordsman was Zuko?"

Zhao continued walking through Pouhai, searching for the scribe that had been recording his speech. "Name another firebender who is in the Earth Kingdom, knows the Avatar, has a working knowledge of Fire Nation fortresses, is trained in dual broadswords, and has a reason to hide his face."

"That all adds up, sir," the man replied, practically jogging to keep up with his commander. "But Zuko was near death when he escaped your ship four days ago. There is no way he could be fighting like this already, if he was ever that good to begin with."

"And you have a better explanation?" Zhao asked heatedly, his temper waning again as he failed to locate the man he was looking for.

"Well, no, sir. But we have no idea if Zuko is even alive, much less where he is."

Zhao stopped in his tracks, a devilish grin creeping onto his face as he began to formulate a plan. "You're right," he said, smirking to himself. "And searching for both the Avatar and the traitor seems like a wasted effort…"

"Sir?" the man asked, his curiosity piqued.

"We're going to smoke out _Prince Zuko_ wherever he may be. Rather than us searching for him, he'll be coming straight to us." The other man was about to press him for more details, but Zhao continued before he spoke. "Take down a letter and get me a messenger hawk."

"I need to write a request to Firelord Ozai."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: And that was the long overdue Chapter 8! I am truly sorry for the delay, but I hope some of you are still around to enjoy it. I have finals coming up soon, but I will do my best to get out another chapter before I have to start spending all of my time studying. Then over the summer I will be balancing my time between this and my other stories, a few of which I have decided to revamp and are now up on my profile. This story is my highest priority though, so it will be updated the most frequently once I finish posting the chapters that are already done for the others.**

**As always, thank you all for reading, and please lemme know what you think was good or what I can work on in the future. As a small side note, I feel like my action scenes are not up to par after my long hiatus, so feedback on that would be especially appreciated.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**-Boredone32**


	9. Chapter 9

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 9**

**Author's Note: Wow, I got nearly twice as many views on the first day of releasing last chapter as I normally do. Less reviews, but I assume that is punishment for taking 4 months to update... Hopefully it wasn't just a terrible chapter :/ Anyway, to make up for the hiatus a bit, I worked my ass off to get this chapter done, though it is far less action-y than last. Regardless, hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Aang!" Katara cried, running to embrace her friend as he came into view.

Sokka and Katara had been waiting back inside the cave Katara and Zuko had taken shelter in before, which kept them out of the still rainy weather. Both of the Water Tribe siblings had been too nervous to sleep, so they had waited up, hoping for the safe return of their companion. A moment after Aang made his way into the cave Zuko trailed in, holding his shoulder and moving in a slow, painful manner.

He gingerly leaned against the near wall as soon as he was under cover, and gritted his teeth while bracing himself. His left hand made its way to his right shoulder, as his gloved hand grasped for the shaft of the arrow still protruding from his back. Katara gasped as she saw the arrow, and cringed when she realized what Zuko was about to do.

"Wait, don't-" she started, just as Zuko pulled the arrow out, groaning in pain. Pushing past Aang, Katara angrily made her way to his side as Zuko relaxed his muscles and let the pain fade. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how much that's going to bleed?" Katara berated him.

Zuko slightly turned his head toward her, an annoyed look in his golden eyes. "That's why I waited until I got back here. You're a healer, right?"

Katara grunted slightly in response as she helped Zuko down onto the floor, helping him lay on his stomach so she could address the wound. "I'm not exactly trained; Kanae only had me help with wounds she had already closed up."

"What?!" Zuko cried incredulously, looking up at the waterbender in angered surprise.

"Relax, it can't be that much different." Zuko's eyes widened at the prospect of being a test subject, but he figured it couldn't hurt to try. At least, it couldn't hurt much more than it already did. Katara took a second to collect a small pool of the falling rainwater before gently guiding the cold liquid onto Zuko's shoulder. He flinched instinctively at the coolness of it, but forced himself to relax and stay patient.

He felt the blood stop flowing from his shoulder, but the pain lingered as Katara pulled the water away from his wound. "There," she said, pride carrying through her voice. "How does it feel?"

Zuko groaned again as he started to push himself up. "Not much better, but thanks."

Katara looked offended by his response, and was quick to defend herself. "Hey, I tried to tell you to wait; at least I closed the wound." Zuko was about to comment on the fact that he had still said thank you, but as he made his way to his knees he felt the wound on his shoulder split open, and the trail of warm, crimson liquid began flowing again. He smirked slightly as Katara's expression sank, but wordlessly got back down onto his stomach, not testing his healer's generosity with snarky comments.

Again Katara tried to seal the wound, and again it did nothing to relieve the pain said wound caused. When he tried to get up again, the wound was torn open a third time, an experience that was surprisingly more painful than Zuko had anticipated. "Stop using it; it needs more time to set!" Katara yelled, angry with herself as much as her patient.

"I'm not going to be completely incapacitated by a small cut," Zuko replied tersely, his patience being tested and his throbbing shoulder adding to his anger.

"Well, you need to let it heal before you get up." Zuko rolled his eyes at the girl's impractical suggestion.

"I'll fix it myself," Zuko said. Tearing off the right sleeve of his shirt, Zuko removed the article of clothing to expose his entire wound. He lit a small fire in his hand and steeled himself for the familiar sensation that was about to come. Using his fire to cauterize the wound, Zuko quickly wrapped his shoulder with the torn sleeve, and began drawing the heat away from his shoulder with his bending.

"Are you insane?" Katara asked, still cringing at the thought of how painful searing a wound closed seemed.

"It's no big deal," Zuko replied. "It's not like I haven't been burned before."

"Okay," Aang started loudly, drawing the two benders attention. "Am I the only one wondering why exactly Lee is bending fire and fighting soldiers with swords?"

Zuko looked pointedly away, knowing that the moment he had been dreading since escaping Pouhai had finally arrived. "Now that you mention it, there's a funny story behind that," Sokka said, and evil tone to his voice. "Why don't you tell him all about it, _Lee?"_ Zuko glared at the Water Tribe boy.

"Hey, I just saved your friend from being tortured or killed; I think you should cut me a little slack." None of the three kids gave Zuko any indication of 'cutting him slack,' so he sighed before addressing Aang. "I… sorta lied to you… a little." Sokka scoffed and Zuko shot him another glare, but couldn't really argue with the boy's dissention. "My real name is Zuko, and I'm from the Fire Nation."

"'From the Fire Nation' is an odd way of saying _Prince_ of the Fire Nation." This time Zuko didn't bother to meet Sokka's interruption with a glare, merely staring at the ground in shame.

Silence reigned for what felt to Zuko like an eternity, before Aang finally responded. "So… why were you travelling with us? Why were you helping us?" Zuko shrugged, not really knowing the answer himself. "Are you on our side?" Aang persisted. Zuko was surprised at the boy's lack of anger, but as he recalled the conversation he and the Avatar had a few days earlier, he realized that Aang might not be terribly mad at all.

"I… don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Sokka asked, apparently convinced that he was an integral part of the conversation.

"I mean I don't know, okay?" Zuko replied, his anger getting the best of him and seeping into his voice. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore! It seems like everyone wants something different out of me, and I don't know what I'm supposed to think or who I'm supposed to listen to! I'm confused, alright?!"

Sokka and Aang had both backed away during the prince's fit of rage, and the fear was multiplied by the campfire's reaction to Zuko's outburst. Katara put a hand on his shoulder, offering a small, light smile to try and calm him. "Maybe you should go back a bit." Zuko looked at her with a confused expression, so she decided to evaluate. "You helped us quite a bit by saving Aang, so we owe you a chance to explain yourself at least. At the same time, you'll understand if we're… hesitant to trust someone who is so connected to the Fire Nation. Maybe if you tell us why you're here, why you were in Kyoshi, and why you were willing to help us, we can all understand each other better."

"You're not seriously considering trusting him still, are you Katara?" Sokka asked, this time receiving a glare from his younger sister rather than the firebender. "Fine, we'll let him talk, but you had better give us the truth this time, princess."

Zuko's good eye visibly twitched at the nickname, but incinerating her brother didn't seem like a good way to earn Katara's trust, so he shook it off. "I… it's a long story," Zuko said. Aang and Katara merely sat down to get comfortable in response, while Sokka appeared to have no interest in listening anyway. "Alright, have it your way. It started three years ago."

"I was banished from the Fire Nation, and given a ship and crew to search the world for the Avatar. After a couple years I had been everywhere, and I figured that since no one had seen the Avatar in nearly a century, I wasn't going to be able to find him. My uncle had been travelling with me, but I couldn't bear to face him when I decided to give up. I left without telling anyone, and started travelling the Earth Kingdom."

"As I made my way south, away from most of the Fire Nation camps, I stopped in a lot of the towns and listened to the stories of some of the locals. Farm homes being destroyed seemed to be a common trend, so I started developing my own background story, using my scar as evidence that I wasn't… _close_ to the Fire Nation."

"Wait a minute," Sokka interrupted. "You gave yourself a scar just to blend in better? That's actually pretty badaah-" the glares from both Zuko and Katara stopped Sokka before he could finish the word, and he stopped speaking altogether when he figured out that Zuko's expression was an obvious no.

"_Anyway,_" Zuko continued, obviously annoyed. "By the time I got to Kyoshi I had the whole thing developed, and had told the story enough times that I wasn't caught off guard by questions I hadn't been asked before. I spent the first month or so trying to forget my past and wallowing in self-pity, but eventually I started to like some aspects of living there."

"Suki had been suspicious of me when I first got there, and made me stay with her where she could keep an eye on me. Over time she started to trust me too, and we eventually became friends. A few weeks before you guys came, I had started to feel guilty, and was trying to think of a way to tell the truth without being killed or exiled, but I couldn't see that happening."

"After you three left Kyoshi Zhao decided to teach you a lesson about running by burning down the inn, while the whole town was inside. I had to use my bending to stop it, and everyone hated me as soon as they saw. Zhao recognized me right away, and told me that if I didn't go with him he would burn the town. I knew they would have made me leave anyway, and I didn't want to face all the people I had lied to, so I went with him. I think you all are caught up on what happened after that."

Zuko wasn't comfortable spilling his guts the way he just had, but he did feel as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, having finally told the truth after so many lies. It was oddly relieving and unsettling at the same time.

"That still doesn't explain why you would help rescue Aang," Sokka pointed out after a minute or so of silence.

"I…" Zuko started, not really knowing the answer himself. "I guess it just… made the most sense. It was…" He trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Right?" Zuko tilted his head up, turning toward Katara, who had a hopeful but somber expression on her face. "You did the right thing, and I bet it felt good, too."

Zuko _had _felt good about busting Aang out of the fortress, but the feeling was more from spiting Zhao than helping Aang. "I don't know that it was right," Zuko replied, his voice carrying no emotion, despite the whirlwind of them he was currently feeling. "I betrayed my country… that doesn't seem like the right thing to do."

If he was being honest with himself, Zuko wasn't sure that betraying the Fire Nation was wrong at this point, but it certainly didn't feel _right._ During his time in the Earth Kingdom, Zuko had seen a lot of the pain and devastation his country had caused, and it seemed that innocent citizens of the Earth Kingdom were the most common victims of the century long war. Still, he had only spent six months in the Earth Kingdom, and that was next to nothing compared to the sixteen years he had been following his father's orders. He had been told over and over that the Fire Nation was only trying to help the world with the war, and it was a hard thing to accept that everything he had been told was lie.

Of course, by this point, Zuko was pretty familiar with lies.

"To be fair," Aang started, trying his best to avoid angering the scarred teen. "Your country kinda betrayed you first. I mean, Zhao nearly killed you, and you were banished years ago."

Zuko had already taken that into consideration, and he had been bitter about his banishment ever since it started. He had already had this argument with himself, and didn't want to go through it again at the time. "I'm tired," he said, getting up and moving to his sleeping roll. "Good night." He went to bed without waiting for a response, debating with himself about whether or not the others would be gone by the time he woke up.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"What are you doing, Sokka?"

Sokka was rolling up his sleeping mat and packing his clothes. "Getting ready to leave, what does it look like?" Katara rolled her eyes as Aang walked up next to her.

"I see that; I meant why?"

"What do you mean, why? We need to leave so we can get as far away from Zhao as possible." Sokka hadn't bothered to stop packing, and began throwing their cooking supplies onto Appa's saddle.

"But…" Aang started, sounding unsure of himself. "Zuko just went to sleep, and I'm pretty tired too. I'm sure we have time for a little rest." Sokka turned toward Aang, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"You can sleep on Appa, and Zuko being asleep is precisely why we need to leave now," Sokka stated.

"Wait, you're just going to leave without him? He just saved Aang's life, Sokka." Katara wasn't sure she liked the idea of travelling with Zuko, but she certainly didn't want to leave him alone with no supplies and a bad shoulder.

"Of course I'm gonna leave without him. He's a firebender, Katara. _Prince_ of the firebenders. You can't honestly think we can trust him," her older brother countered.

"We haven't even talked about it Sokka; we should at least consider bringing him with us. He's good enough to break Aang out of a prison; he could probably be really useful if we run into Zhao again," Katara reasoned.

"Or he could help Zhao capture Aang and kill us, then take credit so he can go back to helping his father burn the world to the ground," Sokka replied, his voice rising with his annoyance.

"He wouldn't do that. He's had plenty of chances to capture Aang already, and he hasn't done anything bad yet. Doesn't he at least deserve a chance?"

"Not really, no," Sokka responded. "He's evil Katara; they all are."

"That's not true," Katara yelled, angrily getting into her older brother's face.

"Yes it is!" Sokka yelled back, not backing down.

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"GUYS!" Aang yelled, causing the Water Tribe siblings to turn their hostile glares on him. "Let's take it easy and talk about this. I'm sure we can find a solution if we keep calm," he proposed, smiling brightly as his friends took a moment to regain their composure.

"Fine," Sokka said, surprising Katara with his quick compliance. "We'll vote. I vote we leave the dangerous sword-wielding firebender behind so we don't get roasted in our sleep." Katara's eye twitched in annoyance.

"And _I_ vote we give the guy who saved Aang's life from a crazy Fire Nation Commander a second chance."

The siblings both turned their gazes on Aang again. "Well," he started, nervously rubbing the back of his neck as he felt the pressure from both of his companions. "He _is _the Prince of the Fire Nation," he continued, trailing off as he continued to think.

"Yeeahh," Sokka prodded, egging him on.

"But he _did_ save my life twice today…"

"Exactly," Katara interjected, a hopeful expression on her face.

"Maybe we can compromise?" Aang offered, not wanting to anger either of his friends. Both of them looked annoyed at his response, but he continued anyway. "We can let him stay with us for a while, but if things start to look bad, we leave."

"How is that a compromise?" Sokka asked, clearly unhappy with the idea.

"Doesn't matter; Aang was the deciding vote. Zuko stays," Katara said, sticking her tongue out at her brother who grunted in response.

"Fine," Sokka relented, beginning to unpack his supplies from the saddle. "Just don't blame me when he burns us all to ashes."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When he woke the next morning, Zuko was both surprised and a bit relieved to see that the Avatar and his friends hadn't ditched him during the night. Despite having fallen asleep sometime well after sundown, Zuko was up at the crack of dawn, drawn from his slumber by the energy that surged through him with the arrival of the sun. He briefly wondered what convinced the others not to leave him behind, but didn't bother questioning his stroke of good luck.

His mind started wandering back to the conversation they'd had the night before, especially his reasoning for saving Aang. He could no longer convince himself he still intended to capture the boy, as it was not only a near impossibility, but he couldn't bear the thought of betraying the three kids who were still willing to trust him, despite all the lies he had told them before. If he hadn't been rescuing Aang so that he could be the one to capture the boy, than maybe he had been doing it to spite Zhao. Although Zuko enjoyed the idea of annoying the older man, it wasn't something he was willing to risk his life over. While he couldn't force himself to come to terms with his reasons, a part of him knew deep down exactly why he had done what he did.

Zuko felt ashamed and betrayed.

He felt ashamed for all the lies he had told. Ashamed of all the lies he had told to strangers, to the people who had called him a friend, and to himself. He had told lies about his past to the random people he met in the Earth Kingdom, lies about who he was to the girl who had taken him in, and lies about what he believed in to himself. He forced himself to believe that he could justify the Fire Nation's actions; that furthering their greatness was worth starting a hundred year war over, and that expanding their conquest was worth the lives of countless innocent civilians.

He felt betrayed by all the people he had let behind. Betrayed by Zhao for imprisoning him, betrayed by his people for hunting him, and betrayed by his father for banishing him. As much as he wanted to believe his father had only banished him because he deserved it, Zuko knew deep down it wasn't true. He had hidden from the truth for two long years because he knew how badly it would hurt.

"You're up early."

Aang's cheery voice brought Zuko out of his thoughts, just as he was sure he was going to break down. "I always get up early," he responded, a bit less politely than he had intended.

"Oh," came the airbender's simple reply. The monk sat in silence, trying to act natural as he waited next to Zuko.

"Did you want something?" Zuko asked, growing tired of the uncomfortable quiet.

"I had a question, actually." Zuko blinked twice, not changing his expression as he waited for the kid to continue. "You remember that conversation we had a few days ago? When we were flying on Appa?"

Zuko nodded yes, recalling the boy's confusion and anger. _'Do you hate the Fire Nation?"_

"Well, I wasn't really talking about the Fire Nation the entire time." Zuko rolled his eyes, recalling the boy's ranting about how Fire Nation soldiers 'just couldn't handle the pressure.'

"Yeah, I figured," he responded, wondering what the monk was getting at.

"I… I ran away. I ran away from the air temple before I fell into the ocean. Is it my fault that this war started? If I had been there, do you think I could have stopped it?" Zuko followed Aang's somber gaze to the ground, pondering the question for a bit.

"Why are you asking me?" Zuko questioned, wondering what made him qualified to answer such a brutal question.

"Well, you're the prince right?" Zuko nodded, still confused. "That means you probably know more about the history of the war than Katara and Sokka. Do you think I could have made a difference?" Thinking back to his schooling, Zuko recalled that Firelord Sozin had used the power of the comet to destroy all four of the Air Temples simultaneously.

"Having the Avatar on their side would have given the monks much better odds…" Zuko started solemnly, realizing that his forefathers were responsible for the destruction of nearly an entire race of people. "But no; it wouldn't have made a difference." Aang looked up, though Zuko couldn't tell if his expression was one of relief, bitterness, or just sadness. "It doesn't matter if you could have saved them anyway," he continued, making eye contact with the younger boy and projecting his voice with confidence. "It's already over; you can't change the past. You can only learn from your mistakes and move on. Dwelling on what's gone will only cause you pain; you have to keep moving forward."

Aang sighed, begrudgingly realizing the truth behind Zuko's words. He sat quietly for a moment, struggling to accept Zuko's assertion that he couldn't have done anything to save his people. Zuko decided he would give the boy some space to think, and got up to see if he could find some wood to start a fire.

"What about you?" Aang asked, the question freezing Zuko in his tracks.

"What about me?" Zuko repeated, not bothering to turn around.

"You say you can't dwell on the past, but it seems to me like you can't let any of it go."

Zuko sighed, turning to face Aang with a solemn expression. "It's different. I've made too many mistakes and betrayed too many people. I can't move on if I have nowhere to go."

"How is that any different?" Aang countered, refusing to drop the subject despite Zuko obviously trying to end the conversation. "So what if you've made mistakes? You can't dwell on the past. You have to move forward, and all you can do is try your best to do what you think is right. Doesn't that count as moving on?"

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Zuko countered. "How do I know what is right and what isn't? Do I listen to what my country says is right? My father? Do I listen to what you think is right, or do I listen to what I was taught my whole life? How am I supposed to know which is which?"

Aang got up and began making his way out of the cave, but he stopped when he was standing right beside Zuko. "What's right and what's wrong isn't something other people tell you. It's something you decide for yourself. Don't listen to what your father says, or your people, or me. Listen to your heart, and make that decision for yourself." He continued walking and left the cave without another word, leaving Zuko in a stunned silence.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Four days of solid travel since her stay in Iwatoshi, Suki came across a small fishing village along the coast. It had a bay and a small port, and was reportedly neutral territory between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. Suki had recalled hearing that there was a large Fire Nation fortress nearby, but she wasn't planning to stay long enough for that to matter. She had run out of supplies a day earlier, and merely intended to refill her stock before setting off again. She probably wouldn't even bother to stay the night.

The town was small and quaint, but when the port came into view, Suki was stopped dead in her tracks. A large Fire Navy vessel was docked in the bay, and it sported the same flags that Zhao's ship had. Knowing her uniform would give her away, Suki decided to take cover inside one of the shops before she could be discovered by any soldiers.

"Can I help you?" A woman asked, smiling as she watched Suki quickly take in her surroundings, checking to make sure she was safe.

"Um, yes, actually. Do you have somewhere I can change?" Suki asked, smiling politely. The woman nodded and pointed Suki in the direction of the bathroom, where the warrior promptly changed into some plainer Earth Kingdom attire. She thanked the woman as she exited, and bought some smoked fish that she could save for a few days. "How long has that ship been here?" Suki asked as the woman counted out her change.

"About five days now. I heard a rumor that the Fire Nation had captured the Avatar nearby, but I don't think it's true. The man who owns that ship is a commander, and he seemed far too angry for that to be possible."

"A commander?" Suki asked, receiving a nod from the woman in response.

"Big side-burned man. Really angry. He was storming all around town yesterday before that other ship got here." Suki tilted her head in confusion, wordlessly pressing the woman to elaborate. "Get this. He brought the Firelord's brother to the Earth Kingdom. They're taking him to Ba Sing Se to face trial for his crimes during the war. They've been making a big fuss about letting everyone know; word's probably half way to the big city by now."

Suki thanked the woman, who said something else that Suki wasn't listening to. She was too busy processing her new information. The side-burned commander was definitely Zhao, and if Zuko was the Prince of the Fire Nation, the Firelord's brother had to be his uncle. Zhao wouldn't bother spreading the word of bringing a prisoner to the Earth Kingdom without cause, so it stood to reason he was trying to draw Zuko out of hiding.

The warrior wasn't sure if she should be worried or ecstatic. Zhao was likely setting a trap for Zuko, but at least now she had a way of finding him as well.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

After debating amongst themselves for nearly half an hour, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Aang had decided to alter their course, heading southeast, away from the coast and away from the North Pole, where Zhao knew they were headed. Travelling along the coast made it easier to avoid small camps, but it also allowed Zhao to track them. They flew inland for a day and a half uneventfully. Zuko had only talked with them a few times during the flight, and their conversations were focused around where to go to avoid trouble.

Sokka wasn't bothering to put in the effort to be subtle about his discontent with Zuko's presence, and Zuko didn't want to try testing the tentative trust he had managed to gain with the group of friends. After camping out for a day, the group decided to restart their journey north, and had flown for another day before deciding to stop near a larger town called Gaipan. They wanted to restock their supplies before moving on, but Gaipan was occupied by the Fire Nation.

Zuko and Aang had to stay outside the city as a result, but Katara and Sokka had taken Appa to buy supplies, leaving the bison close by in case they needed to escape. They had finished setting up camp and had gathered more than enough firewood for the night, so the two benders were left with nothing to do but wait for their companions. Zuko still hadn't been talking much, but Aang decided to try anyway.

"I never thanked you, you know," he said, earning a quizzical look from Zuko. "For saving me, that is."

"Oh. Whatever, it wasn't a big deal," Zuko shrugged.

"… How's your shoulder?" Aang asked, trying a different subject. Zuko merely shrugged in response, much to Aang's chagrin. After a few moments of silence Aang sighed, at a loss for how to open a conversation with the older boy. "Is there a reason you're so quiet all the-"

"Shh!" Zuko hushed, cutting Aang off as he tensed up, looking into the forest nearby.

"I was just trying to have a con-"

"Shh!" Zuko practically growled, glaring at the boy for emphasis. Aang nodded and mouthed 'sorry' as he tried to figure out what Zuko was listening for. The firebender got up and began creeping toward the edge of their camp, but he stopped as he got to the tree line. Aang quietly made his way next to Zuko, and could make out the voices of some men talking nearby.

"I don't know why we're here," one of the voices said. "How are we supposed to guard the town if we aren't inside it?"

"We had express orders from the commander to evacuate the city until he arrived. I don't know why, but after what happened with the Avatar, I don't want to question him."

Before Aang could figure out exactly what was going on Zuko had turned and begun packing up their camp as quickly and quietly as he could. "What are you doing?" Aang whispered to him as he began rolling up their beds.

"If the guards are out of the city it will be a lot safer in there than it will out here. We need to get Sokka and Katara and get out of here. Zhao knows where we are, and he wants to catch us off guard." Aang began helping with their stuff, but wasn't so sure.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"He told the guards to evacuate the town. He wants us to think it's safe so he can ambush us when he arrives. That's the only explanation. We need to leave as soon as possible." The two benders had silently packed up the camp in a matter of seconds, and managed to carry everything despite not having Appa nearby. They made their way into town as rapidly as possible, and split up to begin searching for the Water Tribe siblings.

"Hey there traveler!" someone greeted Zuko as he walked by some of the outdoor stands. "How are you on this glorious day?"

"What's so great about it?" Zuko mumbled under his breath, although it was apparently loud enough for the man to hear.

"Haven't you heard? The Fire Nation has evacuated the town while they transport the Dragon of the West to Ba Sing Se!"

Zuko's eyes widened as the supplies he was carrying dropped to the ground.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: I know Aang's little speech to Zuko was a bit cheesy, but he is a bit of a cheesy kid, so I left it as it was. Every story has to have some really cheesy line in it at least once, right?**

**Anyway, hope you guys liked it, and I am hoping to get chapter ten done before my finals now as well. I've been impressively motivated lately, and am actually making a lot of progress. Of course, I've skipped like five lectures to write this week, but… meh, whatever.**

**Thanks to everyone for reading and especially to those of you who keep reviewing and letting me know how you like it. It's always great to hear feedback from you guys, even if you have something to criticize. That just helps me get better!**

**-Boredone32**


	10. Chapter 10

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 10**

**Author's Note: So, in case it wasn't obvious, this was not finished before finals week. Which, by the way, killed me, and is my excuse for having done absolutely nothing over the past few days. Now I am getting back in the swing of things, so without further ado, here is Chapter 10!**

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**XXXXXXXXXX**

"What did you say?" Zuko demanded, ignoring the pile of camping equipment he had haphazardly dropped to the ground.

"Uh, the Fire Nation has left Gaipan for a while?" the man answered, slightly confused.

"After that," Zuko growled in annoyance.

"They're transporting the Dragon of the West?"

"Yes, that. How do you know? When will they be here?" Zuko knew he was probably scaring the poor man in front of him with his angry interrogation, but he needed to know if his uncle was really headed in his direction.

"Well, the Fire Nation has been making a big deal out of it. Seems like they want everyone in the whole kingdom to know," the man said, chuckling to himself. Zuko's expression never changed, and the man quickly retook a more serious tone. "They released a schedule and everything. They're practically parading him all the way to Ba Sing Se. They'll be coming through here tomorrow evening."

Zuko was going to press the man further, but Aang's voice prevented him from doing so. "There he is! Hey! Zuuu-er, Lee!" the boy yelled, barely catching himself in time. Zuko turned to see that Sokka and Katara were with him, and reluctantly left the man and began picking up the supplies without another word.

"Aang told us what happened. We have enough supplies for a few days, so let's go." Zuko nodded wordlessly, ignoring the chatting of his travelling companions as he tried to think of what to do.

Clearly Zhao was setting a trap for him; the Fire Nation would never release a 'war criminal' to the Earth Kingdom, and they certainly wouldn't publicize it if they did. Zuko had been fairly careful when he had broken Aang out of Pouhai, but he had resorted to firebending twice, which may have been enough to blow his cover. Regardless of whether or not Zhao knew what Zuko had done, the commander was clearly hell-bent on drawing him out of hiding.

The question wasn't whether or not Zhao was setting a trap, but whether or not the commander actually had Iroh. If Zhao did truly have his uncle, Zuko would do anything to help rescue the older man, but there was a chance he hadn't even bothered to bring the retired general as bait. It certainly wasn't necessary, as Zuko would be forced to investigate regardless. The prince knew he needed more information before he could make a plan.

The group had already made their way to Appa, though Zuko was completely oblivious as to what the other three had been discussing while he was distracted. He helped load all of their things onto Appa's back, but didn't put his own stuff into the bison's saddle. The others had already climbed aboard and taken their usual seats, but Zuko showed no intention of joining them.

"What are you doing?" Aang asked from atop the bison's head.

"I… I need to stay behind. You guys should start heading north again," Zuko replied.

"Whoa, no way," Katara said as she peaked over the side of Appa's saddle at him. "Why would you stay here? I thought you said Zhao was coming."

"He is," Zuko assured. "But… he might have my uncle."

"Isn't that worse?" Sokka asked, not allowing Zuko any time to elaborate. "Two crazy firebenders trying to incinerate you sounds worse than just the one."

"My uncle is a good man," Zuko defended, not surprised by the Water Tribe warrior's assumption that his uncle was 'crazy.' Actually, the more he thought about it, the more that word seemed to fit. "And I owe it to him to try and save him if I can."

"We'll help you," Katara offered, ignoring Sokka's protests at the suggestion.

"No. You need to get Aang to the North Pole; I worked too hard to bust him out of prison to lead him right back to Zhao. Take advantage of the chance to get a head start and get as far north as possible. After I get my uncle I'll… figure something out," Zuko finished, unsure of how many options he really had, assuming he didn't get killed in the process of trying to free his uncle.

Aang nodded determinedly and Katara reluctantly relented, while Sokka showed no signs of distress at leaving the firebender behind. He wordlessly turned away, throwing his pack over his shoulder before starting back into the city. "Zuko," Katara's voice rang over his shoulder, freezing him in his tracks. "Be careful, and good luck."

For the first time in what felt like forever, Zuko smiled.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Suki had originally planned on following Zhao and his men as they travelled the Earth Kingdom, knowing that eventually she was likely to run into Zuko, but when she found out that they had released a travel schedule to the public, she decided that working ahead of them would be safer, and get her to Zuko in time to warn him of the oncoming danger. She had seen Zhao and his men preparing to leave; nearly forty soldiers in all. A shorter, heavier, and older man was shackled at the wrists and ankles, and Suki assumed the man was Zuko's uncle. The caravan of soldiers was moving at a slow rate, so Suki had been able to comfortably walk once she got a bit ahead of them.

She checked her map again as she came to a fork in the river she had been following through the forest. After checking to see that Gaipan was to the south, she turned left at the fork and continued walking.

The warrior had spent most of her solitary journey focusing on what exactly she intended to do once she caught up to Zuko. Clearly she would warn him of Zhao's trap, but after that, she wasn't so sure. A seemingly endless number of questions had been plaguing her mind ever since Zuko had left Kyoshi, but Suki wasn't one-hundred percent sure where to start.

She also wasn't one-hundred percent sure what she would do if and when she had her answers. She could travel with Zuko or with the Avatar, assuming either of the two would welcome her companionship, but she wasn't sure that was what she wanted. She could go back to the other Kyoshi warriors, but that made her entire journey seem a bit pointless. She could go to Ba Sing Se and try to find her family, but that didn't seem like an appealing option either. Eventually the warrior had decided to simply play it by ear.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko wasn't sure whether to stick to the ground or to try his luck maneuvering through the trees. He wanted to find Zhao's group early, to get a sense of how big a fight he was walking into and to figure out whether or not he stood to gain anything from doing so. If they truly had his uncle, Zuko would be more than willing to risk his life to save the man, but he wasn't going to run headfirst into an obvious trap without knowing for sure.

Catching up to the caravan before they got into the city would also give him a better chance to ambush them, and he needed as much help as he could get. Attempting to catch them at night was another possibility, but Zuko didn't want to wait too long. He had brought his broadswords and Blue Spirit outfit, but he wasn't sure what purpose either would serve.

Deciding to stick to the ground until he got closer to where he expected Zhao to be, Zuko trudged on swiftly, sticking to a small river running through the forest. He absentmindedly looked around the forest as he walked; taking in the scenery as he recalled everything his uncle had done for him.

The man had followed him into exile, leaving behind his country for the sake of his nephew. He had trained the prince in far more areas than merely his bending. Iroh had taught him what it meant to be a man, a leader, and what it meant to be himself. He had loved Zuko like a second son, and Zuko felt bad enough about leaving the man behind when he left his ship and crew and abandoned his mission. He wouldn't let his uncle be executed, no matter what the cost.

Zuko froze as he heard someone walking ahead of him, and quickly searched for a place to hide. Finding cover behind a couple of nearby bushes, the prince silently crouched and observed the riverside, waiting to see what potential threat the approaching person posed. His eyes widened when the figure of a young woman came into view, a girl he recognized all too well.

Suki.

Zuko wasn't sure what to do, but after a couple seconds of deliberating, he decided to approach her. He got up slowly, entirely foregoing the use of stealth, and made sure that the girl could hear him getting out of the bush before he approached, as he didn't want to scare her and risk getting attacked. She tensed as he got up, and she took a defensive stance as Zuko slowly emerged from the bush, her eyes scanning for danger.

When she saw him she relaxed slightly, and Zuko thought he saw an expression of relief momentarily make its way onto her face. Whatever flash of positive emotion may or may not have quickly crossed her features was quickly replaced, however, and she now bore an expression that looked like a mix between anger and worry. But mostly anger.

"Zuko," she said, her voice even and steady.

"Suki," Zuko replied far more timidly, his tone expressing his curiosity. "Why- What are you doing here?"

Suki took a deep breath and steeled her expression, though it was apparent that she was struggling to keep her emotions in check. "I wanted to find you. I have some questions, and you owe me answers," she replied forcefully.

Zuko didn't have time for this. The girl was certainly right; he owed her an explanation, at the very least. Unfortunately, he was preoccupied with far more pressing matters, and didn't have time to explain everything to the obviously still angry girl standing in front of him. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"You're right," he relented, stepping out of the cover of the bushes. "I owe you an explanation, but I don't have time right now. Zhao is taking my uncle to Ba Sing Se, and I need to rescue him." His gaze was locked on the leaf strewn ground below him in a determined attempt to avoid seeing the reaction on the warrior's face.

"I know," Suki replied, causing Zuko to look up in confusion, "but it's a trap," she added. Zuko shrugged.

"That's pretty obvious, but I still have to try."

"Zhao's bringing at least three dozen soldiers with him; you don't stand a chance," Suki stated, sounding confident in her assessment, if a little apologetic.

"You saw them?" Zuko asked, his hopes picking up.

"Yeah, for a bit. I was following them in hopes of finding you, but once they released their travel schedule, I just stayed a couple of miles ahead."

"Did they have my uncle with them?" Zuko asked, praying the answer was no.

"Well, they had a prisoner," Suki responded, trying to recall what she could about the shackled man. "He was kinda short, a little old, and chubby. Not exactly what I would expect the Dragon of the West to look like."

Zuko shook his head. "No, that's him. Thank you for letting me know; I need to go try to rescue him. I'll answer whatever questions you have after I get him back." Zuko had a look of pure determination set on his face, and was already weighing his options of how to initiate a fight that could very well be forty against one.

"Why are you rescuing him? He's a Fire Nation general, and you've been branded as a traitor. He'll hunt you down too," Suki reasoned, trying in vain to deter the firebender from his suicide mission.

"My uncle's retired, and he wouldn't hunt me down, even if I was a traitor," Zuko countered, confident in his uncle's loyalties.

"Okay, fine. Still though, he's the Dragon of the West. He's helped the Fire Nation win hundreds of battles against the Earth Kingdom, and is responsible for the deaths of countless soldiers," Suki argued.

Zuko could feel his anger boiling inside his chest, but forced it down as he knew that the warrior had no idea who she was talking about. "My uncle has a complicated past, but he is a good man." With that Zuko began following the river again, his anger preventing him from continuing his conversation with the Kyoshi Warrior.

"Fine; I'll help you." Zuko turned, bewildered.

"What? No," he replied.

"Yes. I'll help you get your uncle, and then we can talk."

Zuko's good eye twitched slightly, in a combination of annoyance at her refusal to back down, confusion at her desire to help, and desire to let her. "It's way too dangerous; I can't let you risk your life to help me."

"I'm a warrior too. I can hold my own in a fight. And I'm not gonna let you get killed right after I finally caught up to you." The firebender and the warrior glared at each other, each dead set on their decisions, and the battle of wills commenced.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zhao growled to himself as his navigator once again fumbled with the map as they came to a fork in the river. The bumbling idiot had nearly gotten them lost on four separate occasions so far, and they weren't even half way to Ba Sing Se. Not that the commander expected to get to Ba Sing Se before being attacked by Zuko and the Avatar, but he wanted to stay on schedule so the younger benders could walk into his little trap.

"I think we need to go left…" the man next to him stated. Zhao's eyebrow twitched as he turned an icy glare in the man's direction.

"You _think?" _the commander pressed.

"Uh, sorry, sir. I am confident Gaipan is in that direction, sir," the navigator assured, though his lack of confidence was all too apparent.

"I believe he is correct, Zhao," came a far too jovial voice from the shackled prisoner behind him. "If my memory serves, the town should only be a few miles south of here," Iroh added.

Iroh had been throwing in navigational input since they had departed, sometimes accurate and sometimes inaccurate, trying to throw Zhao off course. Zhao had quickly learned to merely ignore the man, and decided to read the map himself. After a minute of careful examination, Zhao decided that the correct course was indeed making a left turn, he ordered his caravan of soldiers to continue moving.

Iroh had been telling the truth; they were only a few miles from Gaipan, which left Zuko little time to act if he was going to do so before they reached the village. Zhao had made sure he was prepared for an attack at any time, but he was especially cautious as they neared villages and towns, as those were the places marked on the schedule, and the most likely starting points for Zuko and the Avatar.

Looking at the map, Zhao noticed two large clearings in their path, and decided that they would be the most likely places for the prince to strike. "You," he barked, glaring at one of the soldiers behind him. "Scout out the clearing up ahead; make sure no one is waiting for us."

"Yes sir!" the soldier responded, immediately rushing ahead to begin his reconnaissance. Zhao continued looking at his map and glancing at his schedule, trying to figure out how far they needed to get before sundown if they were going to stay on track.

"If we stop an hour after reaching the village," he started, articulating his plan to his navigator. "We should be able to get to-"

Zhao was interrupted midsentence by a loud thud sounding in the clearing ahead of him, followed by a muffled groan and the sound of something hitting the ground. He wordlessly signaled two more men to go ahead and see what had happened. They stepped forward, albeit with a bit of hesitation, and drew their weapons as they stalked slowly into the clearing. A few seconds passed in silence as the men moved out of Zhao's view.

_Thud!_

"What the?!"

_Thud!_

"You three guard the prisoner, the rest of you, with me," Zhao ordered, steeling himself as he dashed into the clearing, closely followed by a plethora of soldiers. As he made his way through the thicker foliage, the sight of a masked swordsman came into view. He was standing over the two unconscious soldiers with his dual broadswords drawn, and the blue and white mask turned just enough for Zhao to confirm its unique pattern. "So nice to see you, _Prince Zuko._"

The masked figure turned wordlessly to him, his lithe figure gracefully falling into a stance. "I'm afraid you are a bit outmatched, this time. Come quietly, and I assure you your death will be swift." The masked man tilted his head slightly, before turning tail and dashing off into the forest.

"After him!" Zhao yelled. "Don't let the prince escape! I don't care if he is alive or dead, but I want him brought to me!" Zhao's men quickly followed orders, and he and his soldiers began their mad dash after the Blue Spirit.

Zhao could see the swordsman sprinting ahead of him, gracefully dashing across the rough terrain and easily avoiding the overhanging branches that threatened to scratch at his face. Zhao was not so graceful, but had no reason to be, and focused on merely keeping up with the prince long enough to corner him. Eventually, he would run out of stamina, grace, or places to run, and Zhao would be there when he did.

Most of his soldiers were managing to keep up, though a few were getting lost in some of the thicker areas of the forest, falling victim to the dense foliage or the uneven terrain. Zhao was a bit impressed with the strategy the prince had come up with, and even more impressed that he was able to move so well after the injuries he had suffered on his ship.

The chase continued to drag on, and Zhao noted that his prey was slowly making a very gradual circle. "Some of you head back toward the prisoner," he yelled despite the effort it took him merely to breathe as he kept up with the much younger man he was chasing. "He's trying to get enough distance to free Iroh! Cut him off!" About five soldiers quickly altered their course to follow the commander's orders, but the masked figure ahead of him made no effort to stop them, or to beat them to their destination.

Zhao realized that he wouldn't be able to keep running as long as the prince would, and thought back to the map he had been reading, struggling to remember the most likely path the younger firebender would take. He smirked as he remembered the bend the river took north of where Iroh was, and realized he could cut the prince off long before he got close to his beloved uncle. Zuko clearly didn't know the area well, as he was running right into a dead end.

Zhao turned slightly to his left as the prince continued making his gradual circle, and signaled one of his men to go wide to the right, and cut off any escape from behind. He quickly reached the river, and followed it to the bend he intended to stop Zuko at.

He smirked as the masked man ran directly into the trap, forced to stop at the edge of the river as Zhao occupied his path back to his beloved uncle. Seeing he was in trouble, Zuko turned to head back the way he came, but was stopped by the fifteen soldiers still on his trail. He turned north, but was stopped by a group of two soldiers blocking his other escape. His only shot would be attempting to traverse the river, but the masked figure showed no intention of doing so.

"An admirable attempt, Zuko, but it was in vain." Zhao slinked his way into a stance as he fought to catch his breath. His soldiers were clearly out of breath as well, and the commander figured he could afford to stall a bit to allow them a small respite. "You're surrounded, and you have no chance of escaping this time. You may be able to outrun us, but not when there is nowhere left to go."

Zhao noticed that the prince was clearly out of breath, as his chest was heaving in an exhausted attempt to obtain more oxygen as well. The other thing that stood out was the prince's chest itself. Zhao squinted, as he noticed that the black fabric was significantly tighter around the pectoral area, and realized in horror that the masked swordsman they were chasing was in fact a woman.

"It's not him," Zhao murmured in shock. "It's not him!" he roared louder, this time to his soldiers.

"Looking for me?" came the voice of the arrogant teenage firebender behind him. Zhao turned to find Zuko standing next to an unshackled Iroh. The firebenders struck at him in unison, knocking the commander into the river. He resurfaced moments later, hearing the sound of a firefight and struggling to watch as his men were quickly overrun by the duo. By the time the smoke had cleared Zuko, Iroh, and the masked girl were gone.

"Dammit!" Zhao roared as the river began steaming around him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Think we could slow down for a bit?" Suki asked as she ran side by side with Zuko and his uncle. Zuko glanced behind him in worry, but nodded and slowed his pace to a walk. They had put decent distance between themselves and Zhao's army, and Suki had been running quite a bit. It was clear she needed a rest.

Zuko had been carrying the few supplies the two still had, and took his mask and swords from Suki when she handed them to him, clearly happy to be relieved of the extra weight. Her breathing was still far heavier than normal, and Zuko realized that stopping for a bit would be the smartest thing to do. Half of Zhao's men were likely still out cold, and the other half wouldn't be too excited to get into another fight.

"Why don't we make camp? We can travel a bit more tonight after we rest for a bit." Suki nodded gratefully, and Iroh happily agreed. Zuko and Iroh began setting up camp as Suki began downing a canteen of water as her breathing slowly began to even out again. Camp ended up consisting of a campfire and two sleeping rolls, as they didn't want to have to repack tents if they were attacked again.

Iroh had offered to cook dinner, borrowing some of the supplies both Suki and Zuko had been carrying to do so. The two teens sat around the fire as Iroh worked, Zuko awkwardly trying to avoid conversation with either of his companions while Suki silently pondered what to say and observed Iroh.

"So," she started awkwardly, finally unable to bear the awkward silence. "You're the Dragon of the West?" Iroh's expression dropped slightly at the title. "You seem far too kind to be a general." Iroh began beaming again, and Suki couldn't help but smile at the old man's expression.

"That was a different time; a different lifetime, really. I'm retired, now." Suki nodded, recognizing that the subject was likely one filled with regrets and bad memories, something that seemed all too common among the Fire Nation royals she had met. "You can call me Iroh; Uncle Iroh, if you prefer. I'm afraid I don't know who you are, however. Are you a friend of my nephew's?" Iroh asked, his voice surprisingly hopeful.

"Not exactly…" Suki muttered, though the man seemed to hear her, his expression turning solemn. "My name's Suki; I'm the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors," she added, hoping this wouldn't upset the older man any more than she had.

"Ah, a fearsome group, by most accounts. I figured you must be talented for my nephew to put so much trust into your abilities, though I must say, I am even more impressed now." Suki blushed at the compliment and idly noticed Zuko awkwardly scratching the back of his neck out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, you guys did most of the fighting; I just ran the diversion."

"Still, your presence was an integral part of my rescue. My nephew does not put that much trust in someone easily," Iroh replied, putting the finishing touches on the fish and rice he was preparing.

"Yeah, no kidding," Suki agreed bitterly, once again without intending to let the older man hear.

"It would appear the two of you have some… _issues,_ to work out; I think I'll eat my meal in solitude. I could use the time to bask in my newfound freedom. Those Fire Nation prisons aren't nearly as scenic as the beauty of the Earth Kingdom in the fall. Thank you both for my rescue, and I look forward to getting to know you better, Suki." Iroh smiled and nodded, taking his food and leaving without waiting for a response.

"Uncle wait!" Zuko called, but his uncle merely lifted a hand in response.

"Enjoy your meal!" Iroh called over his shoulder, laughing slightly to himself.

Zuko begrudgingly returned to his seat next to the fire, but sat awkwardly in silence, clearly wanting to avoid the inevitable conversation that was soon to commence.

Suki ate wordlessly for a while, still unsure of where she wanted to start. Zuko seemed to be grateful for the silence, but she wouldn't let it last long.

Zuko cleared his throat after a while, his awkwardness winning over his desire to remain quiet. "I helped you get your uncle," Suki stated, unsure of just how to approach the desired subject.

"Yup," Zuko responded curtly. "Thanks," he added after a moment.

"You promised to answer my questions," Suki reminded him, causing Zuko to turn his head away from her slightly.

"You haven't asked any," he pointed out, causing the warrior to finally lose her patience.

"I don't know where to start, Zuko. Why were you in Kyoshi? Why did you have to lie to everyone so much? Was anything true at all?" She was ranting, and she knew it, but she couldn't bring herself to stop. "You always seemed so hurt and lonely; how can you justify toying with people's emotions like that? Do you even care how much you hurt m-"

The warrior clasped a hand to her mouth, blushing slightly as she stopped her ranting midsentence. "How much you hurt everyone?" She finished after taking a moment to regain her composure.

"Um, well," Zuko started lamely, clearly overwhelmed. "Maybe I should just start at the beginning?" Suki nodded in agreement, and Zuko took a deep breath to steel his nerves.

"It's a long story."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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**A/N: So, a couple of quick things: First, I haven't been responding to reviews lately, and I apologize for that. I will attempt to begin doing so again starting now, so please don't be offended if I didn't respond to your comments on previous chapters. I really did appreciate all of them, however. Second, I have a bunch of other FFn stuff I am working on, so my updates may be inconsistent. I have two other ongoing stories, a short story I am starting, and my pet project story to get started as well, but Inner Strength will have highest priority.**

**I know this was a bit short and cut off in a funny part, but the scene is too long to add to this chapter, so it will be continued in the next. This chapter was too short without the scene, and too long with it, so I cut it in half as a compromise, and that felt like the best place to... slice it, I guess.**

**Sorry about the long note, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, and lemme know what you thought!**

**Thanks,**

**-Boredone32**


	11. Chapter 11

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 11**

**Author's Note: So, I already wrote out Zuko's explanation to the Gaang two chapters ago, and didn't want to have an exact rewrite. So, this is more glossing over the explanation and getting to Suki's reaction. Sorry if it feels like I was being lazy, I just really didn't see the point in rewriting the same thing.**

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**XXXXXXXXXX**

"_It's a long story."_

Zuko recalled everything he had told the Avatar and his friends a couple days earlier, but decided not to leave out quite as much, as Suki deserved a bit more of a thorough explanation. He told her about his banishment, leaving out the details, as the memory still hurt to relive. He explained how he came to the conclusion that his efforts in catching the Avatar were in vain, and how he had travelled the Earth Kingdom and developed his story on his way to Kyoshi Island.

"After Zhao took me from the island, I managed to escape his ship and meet up with Aang again." Suki noticed that Zuko pointedly left out any mention of his time on Zhao's ship, but her conversation with Kanae had already given her a good enough idea of what had happened. "I travelled with him and his friends for a while, but eventually they found out who I was, and Aang got captured by Zhao. I broke him out wearing the outfit you used to distract Zhao and his men; though I guess it's pretty obvious by now that it was me."

Zuko trailed off, and Suki realized he was probably having a tough time coming to terms with being branded as a traitor, this time with reason. "They let me stay with them for a while, but I left when I heard about my uncle. I ran into you shortly after."

Suki nodded, idly processing the whole story. It was nice to get some sort of background on who Zuko really was, but there was still a lot she wanted to know. "That sounds rough," she sympathized. "But it doesn't answer my questions."

Zuko turned to her, his expression blank, though his eyes carried a whirlwind of emotions that Suki couldn't pick apart. She felt guilty for making the prince relive his clearly burdened past, but she had travelled too far to leave with more questions than answers. "Alright, but you'll have to repeat them. One at a time, preferably." Suki laughed lightly, though Zuko remained serious.

"Alright, why did you lie to everyone so much?"

Zuko scoffed at the question, as though the answer was obvious. "Would any of you been willing to let the Prince of the Fire Nation stay in your village? I doubt it." Apparently the answer _was _obvious, though it wasn't exactly what Suki had meant.

"I understand why you lied, I just don't get why you did it so much. I mean, I don't know. I thought you were really starting to open up to me, but it was all just a lie."

"I… I know," Zuko relented, sighing with regret. "When I first got to Kyoshi I didn't care if I hurt anyone. I was just trying to move on and restart, but after a while I started to like it there. It was boring, but… nice. I guess I sorta… liked it there. I wanted to tell you the truth, but I didn't know how, so I just kept lying." Suki could tell the prince was struggling with coming to grips with his emotions, and he was clearly uncomfortable telling someone how he felt.

"So did you care? When we found out, I mean." Zuko stared at her for a moment before nodding solemnly. They both knew that when Suki had said 'we' she had really meant 'I,' though neither would admit it.

"Yeah… I felt pretty terrible about it," Zuko admitted, recalling the nightmares that had plagued him after he joined up with the Avatar. "I just… I didn't know what else to do."

Suki sighed. She had known all along that Zuko hadn't had a choice in lying, and she found some solace in the fact that he felt bad about doing so. It wasn't enough for her to forgive him outright, but it was a start.

"I guess I can't really blame you for lying…" Suki relented, trying to slightly comfort the firebender. "But how could you toy with all of us like that?"

"I don't know," Zuko groaned, his temper building.

"You don't know? I thought we had a friendship; I don't know, maybe even more. But you were lying the whole time," Suki countered, losing control of her own emotions.

"I'm sorry, alright?" Zuko snapped, the flames of the campfire raging with his anger. "I said I felt bad about it."

"You felt bad?" Suki replied, unfazed by the prince's anger. "How do you think I felt? I was so hurt and betrayed. Do you have any idea what it's like to have someone you care about crush you like that?"

Zuko's expression and anger plummeted, and the shouting match had swiftly taken a far more solemn mood. "Actually, I do." Suki was angered by the fact that he claimed to know how she felt, but realized by the expression he was wearing that he probably did. She reluctantly decided not to press the issue, though she still had a lot more to say to the prince.

"Listen, Suki," Zuko started, standing slowly. "I am truly sorry for what I did to you, and to everyone at Kyoshi. I know that probably doesn't mean much, but it's all I can offer right now. I am gonna go get some rest so I can take the night watch. We can talk again later."

With that Zuko excused himself from the fire, and silently made his way to a sleeping roll. Suki was shocked at the pain and regret his voice had held, and decided to let the issue stand for a while. She stared into the campfire, wondering what exactly had made the firebender so sullen.

"Mind if I join you?" Suki looked up to see Iroh standing beside her, smiling lightly as he gestured to the grass next her. She nodded, wiping the tear that threatened to spring from her eye as the older man sat down.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it sounds like you and Zuko weren't exactly seeing eye-to-eye. Perhaps you could fill an old man in on what his petulant nephew has been up to since he left?" Suki smiled lightly, wondering how such a kindhearted man could be a ferocious general.

"It's nothing, really," she lied, unsure of whether or not she should discuss her issues with the older man.

"Hah, I could feel my nephew's temper rising from the other side of the clearing. But if you don't want to talk about it, perhaps there is something I could help you with?" Suki sat quietly for a moment, pondering the suggestion.

"Actually, I do have a couple of questions," she finally replied.

"Ask away," Iroh encouraged.

"Well, Zuko seems really… hesitant. When it comes to talking to me, I mean. I'm not sure if I did something to make him angry or if he's just… I don't know, afraid?"

Iroh chuckled, though Suki wasn't sure what he had taken as a joke. "My nephew isn't the most trusting person in the world. I'm sure he is just nervous."

"Why would he be nervous though?" Suki asked. "I thought we were friends; we lived together for months." Iroh raised an eyebrow suggestively, causing Suki to blush when she realized what she had said.

"My nephew grew up… lonely," Iroh started, clearly choosing his wording carefully. "He never really had any friends, and he is probably having a hard time understanding what it means to be friends with someone. I know it may be tough, but he needs more time before he can really trust anyone."

"Even if he isn't used to having friends, why is it so hard for him to trust people?"

"Zuko has spent much of his life with people out to get him," Iroh started, sadness dripping from every word. "I doubt he would want me going into much detail, but I suppose you could say that not all of his scars are on the outside."

Suki huffed, unappeased by the answer. It was more than obvious that something was troubling him; she wanted to know _what _was troubling him. Iroh seemed to notice her discontent, and he chuckled lightly before continuing. "The fact that Zuko trusted you to help in my rescue is more progress than I have seen anyone make before; he seems to despise relying on anyone else, regardless of the circumstances. Given time, I'm sure you will get him to open up."

"But how?" Suki asked, slightly unsure of why it mattered quite so much. She absentmindedly dismissed the thought as a by-product of her anger with him as she continued. "How do I get him to open up when I don't know what's keeping him closed off? I don't even know where to start."

"You already have," Iroh responded, though it was little comfort to the warrior. Seeing this, Iroh smirked. "From what I have seen, I can tell that my nephew certainly cares about you."

Suki scoffed incredulously. "He has a funny way of showing it," she mumbled bitterly.

Iroh sighed again, his voice taking a more solemn turn as he spoke. "I think he is afraid of caring about anyone, so he tries to force himself not to. Everyone he has ever cared about has ended up leaving or betraying him. If you can show him that you aren't the same, perhaps it will speed up the process."

Suki shrugged, unsure of how to respond. Iroh obviously knew more about Zuko than she did, but it didn't seem like there was any easy way for her to get through to him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Commander Zhao, we've scoured the forest, but there is no sign of Prince Zuko or General Iroh. They're already gone."

Zhao growled under his breath, his scout's final report confirming what he already expected. The Firelord would not be happy hearing that his brother had been freed during Zhao's attempt to capture the banished prince, and after losing the Avatar, Zhao was already on thin ice. He needed to act fast if he wanted to avoid being punished for his failures, and he needed to get results.

"What are your orders, Commander? Should we return to the ship and begin pursuing the Avatar again, or should we chase after Prince Zuko?"

"The Avatar is travelling to the North Pole; we can catch him there if need be. The traitor prince and his uncle are travelling the Earth Kingdom on foot. They'll be much easier to catch up with," Zhao responded, already working to devise a way to capture the dishonored royals.

"If I may offer some advice, Commander?" Zhao turned to glare at his lieutenant, who was visibly frightened by the expression on his superior's face. Pushing his fear aside, however, the man continued. "Chasing down the Dragon of the West won't be a simple task. Perhaps a request for assistance would be… beneficial?"

Zhao's stare turned icy as he felt his blood begin to boil. "You want us to call for reinforcements?" Zhao asked slowly. The man nodded, though he was clearly less sure of his suggestion. "You want to call for help capturing two of the prisoners that have already escaped our custody?" Rather than nodding, the man merely gulped in response, his fear evident in the shaking of his knees. "We will not be sending word of this… mishap to anyone. We will capture the prince, his uncle, _and_ whoever their little helper was, and we will take them back to the Fire Nation. Until then, we will not make contact with anyone outside of this unit. Understand, lieutenant?"

"Yes, uh, sir. But, um, the Firelord will be expecting an update, sir."

"And we will give him an update," Zhao replied, his tone venomous. "_After _we recapture the prisoners. Is that clear?" The man nodded frantically in response before hurriedly excusing himself from the company of his enraged commander.

_You may have gotten the best of me this time, _Zuko, _but I won't be quite so merciful the next time we meet._

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko took the night watch while Suki and his uncle slept, and spent most of the night forcing himself to stay focused on any potential impending dangers, rather than the inevitable conversation he was going to have with Suki the next morning. The night passed by all too quickly for his liking, and the sun was already beginning to rise when he heard the sound of said female warrior stirring from her slumber.

The firebender momentarily considered acting too tired to talk, but summoned enough courage to push the thoughts aside. He would face the girl and get it over with, rather than cowering in fear. "Hey Zuko. Good morning," Suki said when she saw him sitting by the campfire. Not only did she sound civil, but Zuko could have sworn he detected a hint of friendliness in the girl's voice.

"Hey," he replied lamely, a bit tired from his long night and very confused about the girl's apparent attitude change. Something told Zuko his uncle had been doing a bit of meddling during the prince's nap the night before.

"I know you don't really want to talk, so I came up with a proposal." Zuko raised his brow, intrigued. "I thought we could make a bet. If I win, you have to answer one question completely and honestly." He began to grow nervous at the proposition, but decided to hear the girl out. "And if you win, I'll drop it and forgive you for what you did in Kyoshi. Deal?"

"That depends," Zuko started cautiously. "What's the bet?"

Suki smiled brightly. "A sparring match." Zuko looked at her with a confused expression, so she continued. "Hand-to-hand combat only. No weapons, no bending." Zuko hesitated to accept and Suki smirked. "That is, unless you're afraid."

Zuko's look of uncertainty immediately morphed into one of determination, and the firebender smirked at his companion. "You're on."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Katara sighed as she stared over the back of Appa's saddle. She couldn't help but feel bad about leaving Zuko behind to try and rescue his uncle. He had helped rescue Aang when she and Sokka had looked to him for help, yet they had left him behind to fend for himself against Zhao and whatever number of Fire Nation soldiers was accompanying him.

"Hey Katara." She turned toward Aang, smiling at the tattooed monk who had joined her on the saddle. "You okay?"

Katara laughed slightly at her friend's concern, and turned back to watching the ground retreat far below them. "I'm fine, Aang. Just a little worried, that's all," she assured.

"About Zuko?" Aang guessed, receiving a nod in response. "I'm sure he'll be fine. You should've seen him fighting; he wasn't even bending and he was still really good. I bet he's already got his uncle free." Katara smiled at the thought, hoping the boy was right, but still maintaining her doubts.

"So, where are we headed?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Well, Sokka thinks we should stock up better before we try to head to the Northern Water Tribe, and he isn't sure how many villages are left between us and the coast. There's a town up ahead that we're stopping at." Katara glanced toward the front of Appa, looking over her brother at a large mountain coming into view in the distance.

"Is it before or after that?" Katara asked, pointing to said mountain.

"It's right below it," Aang replied cheerfully. "The village is at the base of a volcano; how cool is that?"

Katara smiled nervously, not sure how 'cool' that idea sounded to her. "Sounds great," she said, her voice hardly masking her tentative fear.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Suki and Zuko had cleared out a small area of their campsite that they designated for the sparring match, and took their places across from each other. Zuko bowed in a traditional Fire Nation style, and Suki inclined her head in response, signaling the beginning of the duel. Neither of the two was quick to approach, each sizing up their opponent before deciding to strike. Suki was confident that she had the advantage, mostly because Zuko was a bender. Most benders never had to rely on physical fighting ability, but she had been fighting hand-to-hand her entire life.

Her certainty was matched perfectly by her opponent, however, who had the advantage of having seen her fight many times before. Zuko had sat in on a couple of her practices with the Kyoshi warriors, and already knew a decent number of the girl's strengths and weaknesses. Finally the two teens decided to close the gap, Suki opting to send a low, spiral kick at her opponent while Zuko struck high. Both missed their target, and a flurry of fists ensued.

Zuko knew that Suki liked to switch between striking high with one hand and striking low with the other, and adjusted his defenses accordingly. He blocked her initial attempts with his wrists, and countered with a kick at the girl's feet. Suki jumped over the leg swipe and spun, attempting to land a kick of her own. Zuko caught her foot with both hands, but before he could do anything with his hold, Suki pushed off and flipped backward, landing gracefully on her feet and smirking.

Zuko smirked back before immediately closing the gap again, this time opting to be on the offensive. Zuko struck quickly and with less power than before, trading brute strength for extra swiftness. Suki was able to block all of his swings, but never had the opportunity to counter. Zuko realized he wasn't making any progress, and decided to add a little more momentum to his next punch, bringing his right hand back much further than before.

Suki reacted in time, dipping under the horizontal swipe and backing up, putting distance between her and Zuko. She had underestimated his quickness, and realized that she needed to be aggressive if she was going to win. Both of the fighters could block the other's attacks endlessly, but Zuko's were stronger than hers, and she would wear down first if she wasn't delivering a large majority of the blows.

Realizing this, the Kyoshi warrior took to the offensive. She was quickly back in Zuko's face, throwing punches and kicks in a whirlwind of feet and fists. Much to her disdain, the firebender was able to block each of the successive blows, and didn't seem to be taking any damage from being on defense. Suki realized that while she may have been a bit quicker and lighter on her feet, it wouldn't be enough to make up for how much stronger and more durable Zuko was. She needed to either tire him out quickly or land a couple of solid hits on something other than his arms if she wanted to win.

Knowing his opponent was getting desperate, Zuko waited for her inevitable slip-up. It came in the form of a roundhouse kick, which the girl had used her momentum from a missed left hook to add power to. Just as she was turned completely away from him, Zuko laid out on the ground, flat on his back and under her approaching foot. He wheeled on his upper back, spinning and lashing out with his legs, swiping the girl's up from under her.

Suki didn't react in time, and was taken to the ground as her legs flew above her head. She landed hard, and the firebender was immediately on top of her, pinning her arms beside her head. The impact with the ground was far less painful than the shot to her pride, but she knew she was defeated.

Zuko smirked as she struggled in vain to push him off of her. "I win. Tap out," he said, his voice carrying no sympathy for the Kyoshi Warrior flailing beneath him. Suki refused and continued to struggle, but Zuko merely tightened his grip on her wrists and held still, refusing to let the girl budge even an inch.

After a few moments of humiliating struggle, Suki finally worked up the nerve to admit defeat, and resigned herself to the subsequent teasing she was sure would follow. "Fine," she sighed, a light pink staining her cheeks in embarrassment. "You win."

Whatever teasing remark Zuko was going to send back her way was interrupted by the sound of Iroh clearing his throat. The two teens' eyes widened as they looked to the older man, each of them just starting to comprehend the implications of the position they were in. Zuko still had his hands on Suki's wrists, which were pinned to the ground above her head. He was straddling her at the hip, using his shins to prevent her legs from kicking back at him in her struggle to get free.

The light pink that had been invading the warrior's face was quickly replaced by a dark crimson, and Zuko wasn't completely able to contain a blush of his own. He quickly jumped off of the Kyoshi Warrior, looking away and rubbing dust off of his shirt as he fought with his embarrassment. Suki stood up slowly, her blush darkening as she noticed the suggestive look on Iroh's face.

"While I hate to interrupt the two of you… making up?" Iroh started, his tone implying far more mature acts than a simple rekindling of a friendship. "I don't think we have time for too many extracurricular activities. There is still a large group of angry firebenders looking for us."

The two teens were still far too humiliated to make eye contact with the older man, but Zuko had regained enough of his composure to speak and move. He brushed past his uncle quickly while staring pointedly at the ground. "I'll pack up camp," he stated simply.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko had packed their things in record time, and the trio was eating a small breakfast of stale bread and some goat-pig cheese. "I was going to suggest heading into Gaipan to acquire some supplies and perhaps a third sleeping roll," Iroh said to Zuko, in a voice that was possibly loud enough for the third member of the group to hear. "But perhaps we will only need the extra food?" Zuko choked on his food and sputtered, hoping that Suki hadn't overheard.

The blushing and awkward looking off into the distance from the warrior told Zuko that she had, and his eyes narrowed in a righteous fury at his mischievous uncle. "I should have left you with Zhao," Zuko snapped back, making sure his voice was too quiet for Suki to hear.

Iroh laughed merrily, more than used to his nephew's anger. "So we can agree that a bit of shopping would be a good idea, then?" he asked both Suki and Zuko.

"Oh, no. You're not going anywhere near that city," Zuko responded, recalling all of the shopping excursions Iroh had taken him on during his two years at sea. "We don't have the time or the money for you to go shopping. Suki and I will go into town to get supplies, and then we're leaving."

"Fair enough," Iroh relented, smiling childishly. "But might I recommend a pot and some tea leaves? I've had nothing to drink but water for nearly six months; I could go for some hot ginseng." Zuko rolled his eyes as he and Suki grabbed what little money they had and began heading for the town.

"If we have the money, uncle, we'll get you some tea," Zuko said as he began following Suki out of the clearing.

"Much appreciated, nephew," Iroh called jovially. His smile warped into a mischievous grin as he added one last reminder. "And don't _'forget'_ the sleeping roll!" The retired general could practically hear the blushes on the two teens' faces, but his merriment was cut short by the fireball his nephew had shot at him in retribution.

_This is going to be fun,_ Iroh thought.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"So," Zuko started awkwardly, a few minutes after he and Suki had reached the market stalls of Gaipan. "What were you going to ask me?" he asked, receiving a confused look in response. "If you had won the bet, I mean."

Suki sighed as she added some leeks to their groceries. "Honestly, I hadn't decided yet."

"Oh," came Zuko's curt reply. An awkward silence momentarily settled in, but Zuko was determined not to let his uncle's antics get to him. "You're probably a better fighter than me," he tried again, this time receiving an embittered scoff in reply.

"You beat me," Suki pointed out, clearly unhappy about it.

"Well, yeah," Zuko replied, his awkwardness shining through once again. He subconsciously marveled at how much easier it had been to talk to the girl under the anonymity of his alias as Lee. "But that was just because I'm stronger." Suki raised an eyebrow at him, silently urging him to elaborate, for the sake of her damaged pride. "You were quicker, but you got desperate because you underestimated me."

Suki smiled slightly, glad that Zuko recognized her skill, but unsure of whether or not she could actually defeat the firebender. "I couldn't get a single hit on you; it's not like I wasn't trying," she countered, vaguely wondering if the firebender was patronizing her.

"Obviously you were trying," Zuko responded as he suspiciously eyed what a vendor claimed was cow-pig meat. "But you weren't expecting me to be able to keep up. Once you realized I could, you panicked." Suki nodded, knowing that her overzealous offensive had been her downfall. "Now that you know how good I am, I bet you would be better prepared; I had the advantage of having seen you fight before."

Suki smiled at the compliment, though it was only a small comfort to her still aching ego. "How did you learn to fight so well?" she asked.

"I'm the Prince of the Fire Nation," Zuko responded matter-of-factly, making sure the only one that could hear him was the girl he was addressing. "I was taught every type of combat you can imagine from the time I could walk. Fighting is really all I've ever known; it's all I've ever been good at." Suki noted a hint of resentment in his tone, but it was only slight.

"Well, you're certainly good at it," Suki complimented, trying not to upset him any further. "It must have been rough, having so much expected of you."

Zuko bitterly huffed in agreement. "You have no idea." The tone of his voice told Suki that the firebender wasn't fond of the topic, and she decided to leave it alone, taking Iroh's advice of giving the prince time. They finished up their shopping in a comfortable quiet, and even managed to get a teapot and a bit of tea for Iroh.

They walked silently back to where Iroh was waiting with the rest of their gear, Suki replaying her sparring match with Zuko the entire way, analyzing her mental replay for some sort of opening or missed opportunity.

Zuko's voice drew her out of her thoughts before she managed to find one. "I was thinking," he started, not bothering to look in her direction as they walked side by side. "It's been a while since I've had a good sparring partner."

"I'm ready for a rematch whenever you want. But I won't be going easy this time," Suki taunted.

Zuko smirked at the thought, but didn't counter with any banter of his own. "We'll need a new bet, though," he continued, causing Suki to think of new terms. The prince apparently already had some in mind, as he continued speaking with only a minor pause to confirm the girl was up for it. "From now on, the winner gets to ask the loser one question, about anything they want, and it must be answered 'completely and honestly,' as you put it."

Suki turned to Zuko in confusion, wondering why he would propose such terms, and what he wanted to know about her that he didn't already. She smiled as she realized that he was already starting to let her in, even if she had to literally beat answers from him. "Sounds like a plan," she agreed.

"Good."

A few minutes later they reached the clearing, and found Iroh napping on the ground next to their packed gear. "Uncle!" Zuko called, waking the man from his slumber. "We're back," he stated obviously as the older man yawned and stretched.

"And no, we did _not _forget the new sleeping mat."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: Alright! Well, I stayed up way too late writing this, so there may be more typos than usual. Word is pretty good at catching that, but I am not good at editing when my brain is more focused on Candy Crush than writing (Level 82 was a biatch). The town Aang, Katara, and Sokka were approaching was that of The Fortuneteller, but I do not intend to rewrite that episode, so assume it was canon. The other ones I either have or intend to alter, so I will be writing most of them in some way, shape, or form.**

**That said, the original intent of the town being Gaipan was to add in Jet and his merry band of misfits, but I realized that, since Jet doesn't play into the story later, it would mostly be filler. Thus, I do not intend to write it, unless I get enough death threats to warrant actual fear. **

**And lastly, I know this chapter was uneventful, but it needed to be done. I also know that there is some Zuki (is that even a thing?) romance being hinted at (and not very subtly in Iroh's case), but I have not decided on a pairing yet. I intend to hint at and develop potential routes into multiple ships for most characters (Sukka, Yukka, Zutara, Zuki, Kataang, Taang, and maybe even Jinko) so right now your guess is as good as mine. I'm not trying to lead you all on and get your hopes up, I just honestly haven't decided. Though Zuko/Suki is fun to write.**

**Sorry for the long AN, I just had a lot to say. Chapter length might have made up for it? I'll try to keep it shorter in the future. Feel free to leave a review, and as always, thanks for reading!**

**-Boredone32**


	12. Chapter 12

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 12**

**Author's Note: I hit 100 reviews! It's probably my favorite landmark I've ever hit, and last time it took 19 chapters, so doing it in 11 is really cool. I appreciate everyone who has been reading and reviewing, and I'm really glad so many people seem to enjoy the story. Without further ado, here is chapter 12!**

* * *

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_Iroh sighed, staring blankly at the iron bars of his cell as the steady rhythm of dripping water lulled him deeper into thought. He barely registered the door to his cell opening, and it wasn't until a plate of stale food was pushed haphazardly through the bars that he finally snapped to attention. _

_The retired general blinked twice, taking in his surroundings as though he hadn't been imprisoned there for nearly five months. The guard stood above him, a helmet covering most of his face, but it was enough for Iroh to recognize him. Enough for Iroh to recognize a friend._

"_Any news of my nephew?" he asked, praying the answer was no._

"_Nothing yet; the search has pretty much come to an end." Iroh breathed a sigh of relief. "But I do have some… disturbing news." Iroh's brow furrowed, turning toward the man before him. _

"_He found it."_

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Uncle!"

Iroh shook his head, apparently waking from whatever daydream he was having on Zuko's third and loudest attempt at getting his attention.. "Were you even listening to a word I said?" the prince asked, clearly annoyed.

"I'm sorry nephew, my mind was elsewhere."

Zuko growled in response, but repeated himself anyway. "I said that we've been travelling most of the morning, and now that we're out of the forest, we'll be able to see Zhao if he's catching up. Maybe this would be a good place to stop for some lunch?"

Iroh smiled brightly, taking a deep breath and a sweeping glance at their surroundings as he spoke. "Great idea, nephew. Such a pleasant spot for a meal." They were in a small area of plains in between the forest surrounding Gaipan and another forest to the northwest, with a range of mountains towering to the east and a massive river running along the western edge.

Zuko was far less concerned about the scenery as he was the advantage of having increased sight range, but he was more than ready to stop for a break. He hadn't slept since late the night before as he had taken the night watch, and he had been wrestling with fatigue for the past few hours. Stubborn as he was, Zuko figured that getting a decent amount of food would give him the energy to continue travelling through the day.

"Alright. We have plenty of food we can eat without making a fire, so there's really no need to set up much," Zuko stated while he, Suki, and Iroh began setting down their gear.

"Plus the smoke would give away our position," Suki agreed.

"Um, if I may interject," Iroh started, much to Zuko's disdain. "You purchased a teapot and some tea leaves before we left Gaipan, correct?" Zuko groaned while Suki nodded, knowing exactly where this was going. "Then I propose we make use of our new supplies and enjoy a nice pot of ginseng."

"Uncle, we're not gonna start a fire just so you can have some tea. You can make a pot tonight, but we shouldn't take unnecessary risks," Zuko responded, causing Iroh to shoot him a look of exaggerated pain. "Besides, there's not even any wood around here. We'd have to go all the way back to the forest."

"No need to fret, nephew," Iroh replied, smiling jovially. "I'll collect the wood to start the fire; you and Suki could go to the river and collect some water." Iroh's smile slowly morphed into a mischievous grin, and Zuko suspected trouble. "I'm sure the two of you could make use of some more alone time."

Zuko glared icily at his uncle, who kept an innocent façade. "What are you implying, old man?"

"Nothing, nephew. Nothing at all. I'll go get started then." Without another word Iroh headed off toward the woods, though Zuko was sure he heard the man laughing to himself. Shaking it off, Zuko sighed, grabbing the teapot and starting toward the river with Suki at his side.

"So…" Suki started awkwardly as they approached the rushing water. "Your uncle is very…"

"Annoying and immature?" Zuko offered, his voice showing his discontent.

"I was going to say involved with your social life, but sure, I guess."

"He likes messing with me. Just try to ignore him," Zuko said, knowing full well that merely ignoring his uncle's innuendos would be an extraordinary feat.

"I mean, I'm not mad or anything. It's just… does he do this with all of your friends?" Suki asked as they reached the banks of the water.

"Uh, it's tough to say," Zuko replied, submerging the kettle into the cool water flowing by his feet. "I am sure he would have, but he never really had the opportunity," he elaborated.

"Oh, right. I forgot." Zuko's eyes narrowed and he turned to the girl as he finished filling up their teapot.

"Forgot what?" Zuko questioned, his suspicion rising.

Suki suddenly seemed flustered, as though she had said something she shouldn't have. "Uh, that, you're… a prince! And princes probably wouldn't have a lot of time to talk to other people their age. So you, uh, probably didn't have a lot of friends."

Zuko sighed in annoyance, realizing that his uncle had been doing far more than his fair share of meddling lately. "You talked to my uncle, didn't you?" Suki hesitated, though the expression on her face was enough to confirm Zuko's suspicions.

"Yeah…" she admitted, looking at the ground, ashamed. "I asked him for advice on how to get you to talk to me. You seemed so upset last night, and I wanted to know why."

"Oh," Zuko responded, his voice devoid of any emotion. He got up with the filled teapot and began heading back to camp, not bothering to continue the conversation further.

"You're mad," Suki said from behind him, causing the firebender to shrug.

"Not really; I kind of expect it from him, to be honest." Suki dropped the topic with after his response, leaving Zuko to ponder how much his uncle had told her as they walked back to camp in silence.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Katara sat on the back of Appa's saddle, listening to her older brother rant about how stupid the people were in Makapu as they left the town and its massive volcano behind. They had left the village the morning after the eruption, which hadn't left Katara enough time to go back to Aunt Wu for one last reading, much to her chagrin.

She still had quite a bit to think about from everything the fortuneteller had told her, but he wondering was cut short when she noticed a small ship stranded on the beach below them. "Sokka," she called, interrupting the boy midsentence.

"Katara, I know you want to believe that future-reading stuff, but it's just not possible. People can't predict-"

"That's not what I'm talking about. Look, down on the beach," she interrupted, pointing to the coastline some forty feet below them. "That looks like a Water Tribe ship. It could be dad's."

Sokka moved to where he could look over the saddle as well, and he smiled as he saw the familiar tribal designs lining the ship's hull. "You're right; let's go check it out." Aang nodded and guided Appa toward the shore, landing a few feet away from the beached ship.

"Is it dad's?" Katara asked, bounding up to Sokka as he continued inspecting the boat.

"I don't think so," he replied, looking over a part of the ship that seemed to have taken some damage, but appeared to be haphazardly repaired. "But it's from his fleet. Dad was here."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko and Iroh walked a few feet behind Suki, the prince trying to create enough distance to allow him to berate his uncle without having the girl overhear. When he was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to hear their hushed conversation, he turned to the older man.

"You've been doing a lot of meddling since you got here," Zuko whispered, making sure his voice was as unhappy about it as he was.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Prince Zuko," Iroh responded innocently.

"Oh really?" Zuko asked, his tone becoming accusatory. "Then why did Suki tell me she talked to you last night?"

Iroh sighed, realizing he had little chance of hiding the truth from his nephew much longer. "Nephew, I did not intend to overstep your privacy. I truly think you could use a friend, or at least someone you can rely on, during your journey."

"I thought that was why you're here," Zuko replied.

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to stay with you much longer." Zuko's eyes widened and he shot his uncle a look of confusion.

"What? Why?"

"There are things I need to do, nephew," Iroh stated cryptically.

"Like what?" Zuko demanded, his voice rising with his temper.

Iroh sighed, not entirely sure how his nephew would react to his decision to help the other nations avoid catastrophe at the hands of his brother. "Your father has set some plans into motion, and I need to warn the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe so that they can be prepared."

Zuko looked shocked, and stopped in his tracks for a moment as he processed his uncle's traitorous intentions. After a short lapse in focus, Zuko shook his head and caught back up to his uncle, apparently over it. "So you're going to betray the Fire Nation?" he asked, opting not to sugar coat his question in the least.

"I choose to look at it as serving the world over betraying the Fire Nation, but I suppose so, yes." Zuko walked in silence, clearly reflecting on his own loyalties and where he currently stood.

"What _is _his plan?" Zuko asked a few moments later. Iroh took a deep, solemn breath before he began to explain.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Aang sighed as he exited the small room decorated in traditional Water Tribe fashion. He left halfway through Bato's retelling of one of his and Hakoda's many misadventures, realizing with no small amount of bitterness that he wasn't part of that group. Sure, he, Katara, and Sokka were like a family, but this was their real family. And no matter how much he wanted to be or how much he tried, Aang would never be a part of that.

He wrapped his arms around himself as a cool breeze ran over him, opting to walk back to the beach where they had found Bato's beached ship. The young airbender allowed himself to wallow in self-pity as he started wishing they hadn't found the ship or Bato. He knew it was wrong to want to keep his friends away from their family and friends, but he didn't have anyone else left, and having Sokka and Katara ignoring him hurt.

It took him a few minutes to reach the beach, during which he decided that Bato was the one at fault, and that he wouldn't be left out if they hadn't come across the Water Tribe warrior. If nothing else Aang wished he could enjoy their traditional cuisine with them, but the only food they seemed to eat that didn't consist of some sort of meat were various forms of sea prunes, none of which seemed appetizing to the young Avatar.

He sighed as he climbed atop the ship, staring out into the ocean as he recalled times with his own family and friends. He tried not to think about the monks too often, as the memories usually just caused him pain, but a small smile crept onto his face as he thought about all the games of airball with his old friends.

He let his mind drift to some of his lessons with Gyatso, his travels around the world and his adventures with Kuzon, and to riding the mail carts with Bumi in Omashu. The memories were nice, but it was bittersweet as Aang knew that memories were all they would ever be.

"Hello," came a voice below him, snapping Aang out of his thoughts. "I have a letter for Bato. Do you know where he is?" The man was wearing a simple Earth Kingdom outfit with some sort of symbol adorning it, probably signifying that he was part of the army or something. He was riding atop and ostrich horse, and was clearly a messenger for the Earth Kingdom.

"Yeah, I know Bato," Aang replied, hopping down next to the man and his mount.

"Great," the man replied, pulling out a letter and presenting it to Aang. "Could you make sure he gets this?" Aang nodded, taking the letter and watching as the man turned his ostrich horse around and left.

Opening the letter, Aang realized it was a map marked with the rendezvous point, and an internal struggle of what to do with it began to rage within the young Avatar's mind.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Commander Zhao, we have just received a letter from the Firelord."

Zhao's eyes widened as he snatched the letter from the soldier, wondering how Firelord Ozai had learned of his failure, and trying to decide how to figure out whichever traitor had given him away. He quickly opened the letter and began reading it. A wave of relief washed over the man as he read, realizing that the Firelord was not calling for his head after hearing about the loss of yet another prisoner.

The letter was a summons sent to all of the commanders in the area, telling them to prepare their ships to begin moving on the North Pole. Initially Zhao debated ignoring the order to pursue Iroh and Zuko further, but realized that the plan for the invasion called for him specifically. He was the one who had proposed learning the identity of and killing the Moon Spirit to give the Fire Navy an advantage, and apparently the Firelord had managed to figure out a way to do so.

Zhao was selected to be the one to lead a group into the Northern Water Tribe to find and kill the spirit, and he realized that this would be as good a shot at redemption as any. He could blame the loss of Iroh on his men after he left the group, and taking down the entire Northern Water Tribe would surely earn him the Firelord's favor.

"Very well," Zhao said, addressing the man who had given him the letter. "Tell the men to pack up camp and prepare to head back to the ship. Leave the banished prince and his traitor uncle; they don't mean anything to us anymore."

"Yes sir!" The soldier saluted and took off to enact his commander's orders, leaving Zhao to read over his orders once again. Three weeks and the invasion force would set sail.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"We can't do this," Sokka said, stopping in his tracks while Bato and Katara continued marching away.

"What do you mean, Sokka? Let's go see dad," Katara replied, her resentment and anger seeping into her voice.

"We can't leave Aang like this. We need to get him to the North Pole."

Katara stopped and turned, glaring at her brother in anger. "He can get their on his own. He tried to keep us from seeing our own father, Sokka. He betrayed us."

"I know that, Katara," Sokka responded, feeling more than a little angry at the bald monk himself. "But he felt hurt and alone. I know what he did was wrong, but it wasn't bad enough for us to leave him like this. We need to go to the North Pole so he can master waterbending, and so can you." Katara moved to argue, but was stopped when Bato gently rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Your brother is right, Katara. Aang may have made a mistake, but he was hurt and lonely. I know you're angry with him, but I'm sure you will have another chance to see your father soon. Go with Aang; I'll let everyone know you said hi." Katara looked like she wanted to protest, but she sighed in defeat, knowing that Sokka and Bato were right. They couldn't leave Aang now; they had come too far to stop this close to the North Pole. She could see her father again later, but this was probably her only chance to find a waterbending master.

"Okay," she relented. "You're right. We'll go find Aang." Bato smiled and hugged the waterbender, who flashed a sad smile back before turning to her brother. "Let's go," she said, waiting for Sokka to say his goodbyes before taking off to find their friend.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"So, nephew," Iroh said, trying to get the attention of the young firebender staring warily at the edge of the forest surrounding their camp. Iroh wasn't sure if he was worried that they were being followed or if he was worried about Suki, who had gone alone to the nearby river to wash up. Either way, his nephew was clearly lacking confidence in their safety with Zhao still potentially on their trail.

"What's on your mind?" Iroh asked. Zuko shrugged, still looking out toward the forest.

"A lot," came his reply. Iroh sighed, recognizing the confusion in his nephew's voice and regretting that he would not have time to help the young man sort through whatever was occupying his mind so frequently. "Why were you imprisoned?" Zuko asked, turning to his uncle.

"Your father assumed I had something to do with your disappearance. He wasn't happy about it," Iroh responded, choosing his words carefully. Zuko didn't seem to buy it, and Iroh was worried the boy would press the issue. He did.

"Is… is it true? What Zhao said? Did father really… want me… killed?" Zuko asked, a mixture of unbridled pain and tentative hope seeping into each of the words. Iroh couldn't bear to verbally confirm it, but he was sure Zuko would understand what his lack of response meant. The silence that fell over them was tense and solemn, and Iroh couldn't imagine the pain his nephew had been going through.

"Why?" Zuko finally asked, his voice small and frail. Iroh couldn't bear hearing his nephew speak in such a way, but he also couldn't imagine the pain he felt from learning that his own father had wanted him dead.

"Your father is…" Iroh started, trying to think of how to explain a man calling for the death of his own son. "a bit…" he continued, trying in vain to think of the right word. Zuko was staring at him with a look of utter defeat on his face, but his eyes slowly narrowed suspiciously as the usually wise old man floundered in vain for the right thing to say.

"A bit what?" Zuko interrupted, angry and hurt all at the same time. "Disappointed? Heartless? Cruel? I tried. I tried as hard as I could to find the Avatar. I spent years doing nothing but trying to make him happy. How could he order my execution when all I wanted was to make him proud of me?" Iroh's heart began to break as he listened to his nephew's pain fuelled rant.

"It's nothing you could have controlled, Prince Zuko. Your father has always been disappointed in you, but that is only because you are a better person than him," Iroh responded adamantly, though it did nothing to calm his nephew.

"That doesn't even make sense," Zuko yelled, his rage boiling over as he channeled all of his pain into anger. The campfire behind him responded in kind, emanating a raging heat that Iroh was sure would soon set the entire forest ablaze. "He hates me because I'm a failure!"

"You're not a failure, nephew. Your father is a cruel man who cares about nothing but power. You are not like him; you have more heart, more morals. And that is what disappoints him." Zuko stood, his eyes carrying a whirlwind of emotions the retired general couldn't pick apart. For a moment Iroh wasn't sure what his nephew would do, as he watched the young firebender standing, his fists clenched and shaking in anger.

After what felt like an eternity, the boy stopped, his expression turning solemn and his hands relaxing as he breathed deeply and slowly. Then he turned, yelling in rage as he threw his hands toward the campfire, sending the flams skyrocketing to the air as he channeled all of his rage into his bending. Iroh had to raise an arm to shield his face from the heat that resulted, but as quickly as it had shot up, the fire died down, dwindling to nothing as its fuel source had been completely consumed.

Zuko left wordlessly, walking off into the forest leaving his uncle to wonder whether or not he should follow the boy.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko sat quietly, leaning against the trunk of a tree as he stared at the dirt beneath his feet, trying to come to terms with his new discovery. He had suspected for a long time that his father had wanted him gone so Azula could take the throne in his place, but having it confirmed hurt worse than the scar the same man had given him.

A lone tear ran down his right cheek, the only sign of self-pity Zuko would allow himself. He wasn't sad. He was angry.

Angry that his father could betray him so easily, for nothing more than speaking out of turn. Angry that the man could leave him disfigured for life, all for trying to remain loyal to his people. But more than that, he was angry with himself. Angry he had lied to himself for so long, fighting to believe that his father would one day take him back. Angry that he had spent so much time trying in vain to please a man who only wanted him out of the way.

But no more. Zuko wouldn't fight for the man any more. Since he had journeyed to the Earth Kingdom, he had seen countless numbers of people hurt by the war his father insisted on carrying on, and not once had he seen a positive impact of all the bloodshed. Soldiers died by the thousands on each side; citizens perished daily from the Earth Kingdom villages, and all for his own father's mad scramble for power and control.

And what's more, the people that were wronged by the war, that lost their family members, their friends, and their homes, weren't angry at the world for their losses. They supported each other, and worked together to get through the struggles and obstacles the war saw fit to place in their path.

Zuko had been posing as a refugee for less than half a year, yet he had already been shown more kindness than his fourteen years in the Fire Nation. A woman who hadn't even known his name had taken him in and healed his injuries when he had nothing to give in return. A group of kids had trusted him and befriended him without so much as a second thought. And an entire village had allowed him to live among them, despite having nothing to contribute to their people.

Zuko had been convinced that doing anything less than following his father's every order would be betraying his people and his country, but he now realized it was quite the opposite. His father was the one betraying his people. Every soldier that died, every extra tax taken away from the already impoverished people of his nation was another betrayal of their trust, and if Zuko ever had the chance, he would do everything in his power to right those wrongs.

As far as the Fire Nation was concerned, Zuko was already a traitor. The only difference now was that he would be embracing the title.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: Sorry the chapter was a bit on the short side; that was just by far the best place to end it. I've been working on some other stuff lately, and debating about whether or not I should bother with Zutara Week. One of my RL friends keeps bugging me to write Zutara stuff, though mostly as a joke, and I am tempted to do it just to shut him up. I'm not really sure, but I might take a while to update since it is next week.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you liked it!**

**-Boredone32**


	13. Chapter 13

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 13**

**Author's Note: Sorry about the break in updates. I really don't have any excuses except maybe publishing a couple new stories, but they really didn't take as much time as I spent looking at this trying to force myself to write despite lacking motivation, so for the past month, nothing. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko woke early the next morning, opting to prepare breakfast so that his uncle wouldn't have to work as hard before heading off on his own. The firebender wasn't thrilled about the idea of splitting up with his uncle so quickly, but he knew the older man wasn't going to budge.

Iroh intended to head north as far as he could to try and send a warning to the North Pole, and then he would begin a journey to Ba Sing Se. Knowing that such a travel would take months and having a newfound determination to do whatever he could to spite his father, Zuko had decided that he would go to the Northern Water Tribe so his uncle could begin heading for the Earth Kingdom capital.

Iroh hadn't been detailed when explaining Ozai's plans, but Zuko knew that an invasion force would soon be making its way toward the north, and that the Water Tribe would fall instantly if they didn't have time to prepare. What his uncle wanted to do in Ba Sing Se was a complete mystery to the banished prince, so he figured taking the northern route would be the simpler course of action. The only thing he needed to do was convince his uncle to agree with the plan.

Said retired general woke just as Zuko was finishing the meager breakfast he had prepared, and joined his nephew as the sun made its way into the morning sky. "Ah, nephew," Iroh greeted cheerfully as he stretched and sat down. "You're up early."

"I didn't sleep well," Zuko responded, handing the older man his food. "Had a lot on my mind."

"I see," Iroh replied solemnly. "Anything I can help with?"

Zuko exhaled slowly, forcing himself to keep his calm despite the still boiling anger he felt after the night before. "Not exactly, though I did come up with an idea," he said.

"And what would that be?" Iroh asked as he began eating.

"I was thinking about what you said, about warning the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe about the invasion," Zuko started, sounding a bit unsure of himself. Iroh nodded, wordlessly urging the boy to continue. "I thought maybe it would be easier if Suki and I went north, and you headed directly to Ba Sing Se. That way there might even be time for them to send some reinforcements."

"There won't be time for the Earth Kingdom to send reinforcements regardless of where I go first, and I doubt they would be willing to send troops even if they could." Zuko sighed, unable to deny the truth in his uncle's words.

"Then why bother going to Ba Sing Se at all? The invasion on the North Pole won't affect them."

Iroh sighed heavily, averting his eyes to the ground as he spoke. "Your father's plans are far more sinister than a simple invasion of the North Pole. He's been working on something for quite some time now that has the potential to end more than just the war, but also the entire world as we know it. I have no chance of stopping him on my own, but I doubt I will be able to convince the Earth King to do anything about it."

Zuko was about to press his uncle for more information, but the sound of Suki yawning as she exited her tent cut him off. Apparently noticing the seriousness of Zuko and Iroh's conversation, the warrior blushed slightly as she sent them a sheepish grin. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

"Ah, you weren't interrupting at all," Iroh assured warmly, though Zuko didn't exactly agree. "How did you sleep?"

Zuko blinked at his uncle, confused as to why the man was so quickly changing the subject. The older man's lack of transparency was making the banished prince even more wary; whatever his father was planning, it must have been truly horrible.

"Uh, fine, I guess," Suki responded, almost as though she was asking a question. "Really though, I don't want to get in the way of whatever you guys were talking about. I can go somewhere else for a bit, if you want."

"Ah, there's no need for that," Iroh said, smiling at the girl and gesturing for her to come over and join the duo for breakfast. "My nephew and I were just preparing to head our separate ways."

"You're leaving?" Suki asked as she sat next to the retired general and grabbed some food. "I thought we weren't splitting up for a few more days."

"We weren't," Iroh conceded. "But my nephew proposed a new plan. He offered to head to the North Pole in my place, in order to give me more time to travel to Ba Sing Se. I was just about to ask him to meet up with me there after he finished his mission."

"Oh," Suki replied, confused and disappointed. "So… I guess I'm going with Zuko, then?"

"I suppose you don't have to," Iroh responded. "Though it would make me feel much better about leaving him with such a dangerous task." Zuko glared at his uncle, infuriated at the idea of someone thinking he needed help. That said, he didn't particularly want to travel alone, so he didn't bother to argue.

"No, that's fine. If you're okay with it," Suki said, turning to Zuko.

"Whatever," he replied nonchalantly, trying not to give his uncle the opportunity to once again embarrass the pair of teens.

"Then it's settled. After a nice cup of tea we can pack up camp and set out." Zuko and Suki smiled sadly at the older man and nodded, agreeing to enjoy a few final moments together before splitting up once again.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Tap out," he said, smirking at the warrior flailing helplessly beneath him. "You're not getting out. It's over," he pressed between breaths, his voice far more confident than he had actually been during the fight.

The sparring match had gone longer, and Zuko was convinced he was going to lose on multiple occasions, but in the end he just barely managed to best the girl, thanks in large part to uneven ground and a poorly timed stumble. The firebender knew that if he wanted to keep his undefeated streak alive he was going to need to be better.

"AH! Fine, you win. Get off me," Suki finally relented, her breath short as well. Zuko stood up, allowing the girl to move freely again as he continued smirking at her. She was far more angry than embarrassed this time, and Zuko was a bit worried she might attack him again. "You got lucky, by the way."

"No need to be a sore loser," Zuko chided, adding fuel to the girl's fury. "I won the match; it doesn't matter how."

After saying goodbye to Iroh, the duo had left camp and continued north for the better part of the day, but having arrived at a particularly nice clearing with a small stream nearby, they decided to stop early and get in another sparring match before dinner. They set up camp before starting the match, leaving them less work to do when they were inevitably worn out from fighting.

"Yeah, whatever." Suki sat down and took a drink from her canteen, grateful for the respite, but still fuming over her defeat. "I had you. I should've won. Next time you won't get so lucky," she assured.

"You gonna answer my question or not?" Zuko asked, taking a seat next to the girl.

"Is that the question?" she responded.

Zuko smirked. "Nope. Why did you come after me? That's my question."

Suki looked away and took another drink, trying to figure out how to answer a question she didn't really know the answer to. "I told you already; I wanted some answers."

"That doesn't sound very 'complete and honest,'" Zuko pressed, knowing there was more to it. Suki sighed.

"Fine. I was angry…" Zuko's expression dropped. Of course she had been angry; he wasn't really sure what he had been hoping for. "But also… a bit worried." Zuko perked back up, raising an eyebrow in interest as he waited for the girl to elaborate. "Obviously I was mad at you for what you had done, and all the lies you had told, but I was still… scared of what Zhao would do to you. I guess, even though you were lying, I still felt like we were friends. At least a little bit… I don't know."

"That's your answer?" Zuko asked, admittedly a bit pleased by it, but still wanting to know more. "'I don't know?'"

"Hey, you said completely and honestly. I honestly don't know exactly why I came after you." Zuko nodded, begrudgingly accepting the answer. "I'm glad I did, though," Suki added, trying to hold back a slight blush as she did so.

Zuko noticed and smirked to himself, but didn't want to damage the girl's pride any more than the two straight losses had, so he didn't acknowledge it. "I'm glad you did too."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_Iroh scanned over the map of Ba Sing Se, trying in vain to figure out where the best point to send in attacks would be. Taking out the wall would take a lot of effort, and if they didn't make a whole big enough, his men would be running single file to their deaths. Too many soldiers had died during the siege, and he wasn't about to risk the lives of hundreds more out of lazy planning._

"_General Iroh." He looked up to see a tall, fully armored soldier standing in front of him. The man was easy to recognize by his helmets; one of the commanding officers._

"_Ah, do you have news from the fronts, lieutenant?" Iroh asked, turning his attention back to his map as he waited for the man to respond._

"_Unfortunately, sir… I do." Iroh's brow furrowed. They had sent a few scout teams to investigate the wall and look for weak points; had none of them found anything?_

"_Well what is it?" Iroh demanded, losing his temper._

"_It's the scouting parties, sir." The lieutenant paused again, infuriating the general to no end, but he managed to remain composed._

"_What about the scouting parties, lieutenant?" _

"_They were attacked. Cut off by the looks of it. They fought valiantly, but…" Iroh was staring the man down, his attention fully locked on every word that came out of his mouth at this point. His own son had been in the northern team. "They didn't make it," he finally finished._

_Pain struck him. Raw, unbridled, physical pain shot through his body like an arrow, and it took all of his strength to simply remain standing. Seconds passed, each feeling like an eternity of sorrow and agony as Iroh tried to process the death of his own son. Eventually the shock died down enough that he could think again, and he tried his best to return his attention to the soldier in front of them. The man must have been waiting hours for a response. Maybe it was seconds, Iroh really couldn't be sure._

"_Thank you for bringing this to my attention," Iroh responded, his voice entirely devoid of emotion, his persona taking on that of a heartless general who could not, and would not, feel anything at all. "You're dismissed." _

_The man nodded, clearly grateful for the opportunity to escape the situation, and he turned to leave. Arriving at the front of the tent, the man stopped, breathing deeply to calm himself. "I'm sorry, sir."_

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sokka sat in Appa's saddle, going over the map as his sister and Aang talked through their trust issues. Sure, Sokka was a bit angry that the boy had kept the map to their father from them, but it was over and done with, as far as the Water Tribe Warrior was concerned. If he was being honest with himself, Sokka had been nervous to see his father again anyway. And while he would love nothing more than to be able to spend time with his whole family again, he knew that dwelling on it would only make him feel worse.

"Hey Aang," he started, noticing something peculiar. "According to this map, the Northern Air Temple is nearby. It's just a bit to the east."

"I know," Aang replied, sounding somber. "But if it's all the same to you guys, I don't really feel like going there right now. Maybe on the way back, but I didn't really enjoy my last visit to an Air Temple."

Sokka nodded, feeling a bit sympathetic and impressed by the boy's composure at the same time. Aang was certainly still a child at heart, but he had his moments. Apparently Sokka's sister felt more than a bit sympathetic, as she was now enveloping the boy in an airtight hug as she assured him it was okay. Sokka thought she would probably just make it worse, but Aang didn't seem to mind. He smiled as he watched his sister show off her motherly nature.

"Alright, then we should think about stopping near the coast for a bit. Appa's gonna need to rest before we try to cross the ocean tomorrow." Aang nodded as best he could with Katara's arms still wrapped around him and began guiding Appa lower. Just one more leg of their journey and they'd reach their destination.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey," Suki said as she returned to the campfire. Her hair was still wet from her stream bath, but she didn't mind. "How much longer until we reach the coast?"

Zuko thought for a bit, trying to determine exactly where they were. They had been making pretty good time, but they had only been travelling for two days since they had left Gaipan. "Uh, we should be able to reach the coast in another good day's travel, but we'll need to head east for at least another half day before we can get to a port of any kind."

"Good," Suki replied. They sat quietly for a moment, with nothing but the sound of the crackling fire piercing the silence. Suki tried to think about something to talk about, but it seemed that Zuko either immediately dismissed or got offended by anything she had managed to come up with. They had spoken about Zhao and the invasion most of the day, but it seemed like they had nothing to speak of without Iroh to facilitate the conversation. For that she really missed the retired general, though she couldn't say she was too sorry to be rid of his embarrassing insinuations.

"So, you must have spent a lot of time training, to be good at both fist-fighting and bending," Suki mused, trying to find a bit of common ground. Zuko had never liked talking about his past, but maybe he had some happy memories tied up in his training.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it. Usually about five hours per day, between studying how to fight and actually practicing." Suki's eyes widened. The Kyoshi Warriors usually spent one or two hours training on average, and once in a while Suki would stay for at most another hour or so if she really wanted to get something down. But five hours was just ridiculous.

"That's insane. Didn't you get tired?"

Zuko smirked a bit, recalling the early days of trying to keep up with such a vigorous routine. "Sure, all the time. To be fair, when I first started I spent more time talking and learning the training. Just before I… left," Zuko said, clearly choosing his words carefully and wrestling with his emotions, "I would spend about an hour doing physical training, half an hour studying bending, an hour and a half of bending practice, and then an hour of studying and practicing either hand-to-hand combat or swordsmanship."

Suki shook her head, laughing lightly to herself. "That's just crazy," she said smiling.

"It kept me from getting bored. All I had to do all day was train and study, and sparring is far more interesting than learning about the history of every rock in the palace." When Suki looked at Zuko, she could see a sad smile fighting to work its way onto his lips, and she couldn't help but smile with pride at finally getting the boy to open up a bit about his past, without having to force him.

"I always thought I trained hard with the other warriors, but I guess we've got nothing on you."

Zuko shook his head. "You guys worked a lot harder, just over a shorter period of time. You should be really proud of how good your group is. You're a good leader."

Suki blushed and tried to shake off the compliment, though she certainly _was _proud of how far all of her warriors had come since they began, including herself. "I'm sure you'd be a good leader too," she complimented back, not really thinking through the decision.

And just like that, Zuko slammed shut, his expression and tone going cold as ice. "I doubt it," he replied bitterly. Suki inhaled sharply, more angry with herself than anything; she should have been able to see that one coming. Of course the banished Prince of the Fire Nation might have an issue or two when it came to his leadership abilities.

"I'm sorry," she tried, her voice soft and empathetic. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Zuko looked even angrier, as though she was patronizing by claiming he had been upset. "It's fine," he said dismissively, clearly fed up with the conversation. Suki sighed and looked away, annoyed and upset that Zuko still shut her out so quickly. Every attempt to get closer to him resulted in him getting angry and pushing her away, and she was getting sick of it.

The silence that now occupied the clearing was soaked in tension, and after just a couple minutes Suki could no longer stand it. "I'm going to bed," she told Zuko, who didn't seem to be listening. "Goodnight." She waited for a moment, hoping for at least some form of acknowledgement, but when none came, she got up and wordlessly left for her tent.

"Goodnight," she finally heard him call just as she was about to lie down, resulting in a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Iroh sat in his bed, sleeplessly shifting through memories of the distant past and fears of the near future. He was angry, sad, and terrified all at the same time. Since three weeks after his son had died Iroh had been a completely different man, and had spent his life trying to benefit the world as a tribute to his late son. And now, the very reason for his change of heart, the motivation behind all of his good deeds was going to be used for the exact opposite. His trip to the Spirit World had been a mistake, and he had hoped no human besides the Avatar would ever make the same mistake again, but now that hope was all but lost.

He sighed as he mentally berated Zhao, his brother, and himself, hating that his greatest, and worst, discovery was now the source of the world's greatest danger. In reality he could only hope that his brother would fail, for this would no longer be a war that one of two nations would win, but a war that one man could lose. The power his brother desired would all but certainly overwhelm him, and what happened next was likely to be unstoppable.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"I think we're getting close," Zuko said to Suki as the duo continued walking through the dense forest. "It's getting dark though. We can either set up camp now or try to make it to the beach and set up in the dark. It's up to you."

It didn't take long for Suki to decide that a night on the beach sounded much nicer than yet another underneath the dense foliage of the forest, so she told Zuko to carry on. "Does that mean I won't get my rematch?" she asked as she followed Zuko over a fallen tree trunk.

"Unless you know how to fight blind, we won't be doing any sparring tonight."

"So… does that mean you forfeit?" she asked, smiling at the idea of a free question.

"If you want your first victory to be fake, sure." Her smiled vanished and she could practically hear Zuko smirking at her, but he was right. Her pride would never let her win that way.

"Fine, but tomorrow morning I'm going to win." Suki continued following Zuko, and she was pretty sure she could make out the sound of the ocean somewhere in the distance.

"I can see the beach," Zuko called back to her. "We're almost there, but I don't think we're alone."

Suki tensed, immediately preparing to fight and scanning for any nearby danger. Zuko began walking more carefully, effortlessly gliding silently through the remainder of the forest until he could crouch down and assess the danger. After a moment he stood up and signaled Suki to join him. "I can see their camp and their ships. They're definitely Water Tribe."

"Good," Suki replied starting toward the sand. Zuko grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, into the trees, glaring at her when she turned toward him.

"What are you doing? What if they recognize me?" Zuko seethed.

"Don't worry about it. We'll be fine. Just let me do the talking and try not to look suspicious or… Fire Nation." Zuko didn't seem to like the idea, but he released the grip on her wrist and nodded, following her out into the open. As they approached the camp a few of the men drew their spears, but most of them seemed fairly unfazed.

"Hi!" Suki called, making sure to sound sweet and innocent. "Are you guys from the Water Tribe?"

"Yes, we are," one of the men said as he walked toward them, meeting them a few feet outside their campground. "I'm Hasook, of the Northern Water Tribe. Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Suki and this is my boyfriend, Lee." Suki heard Zuko sputter when she said boyfriend, and made sure to remember to throw in an extra low-blow or two when she was beating him the next day. "We've actually been trying to head out to the North Pole. I hear it's very romantic." Zuko continued making sounds of disbelief from behind her, so Suki elbowed the boy in the ribs to shut him up. The guy had been able to lie straight to her face about losing his family in a fire, but telling someone they didn't know that she was his girlfriend freaked him out to no end.

"Well, I'm sorry to say we won't be able to help you," Hasook replied.

"Oh, that's fine," Suki assured, smiling. "We were going to head over to the port tomorrow and board a ship to go out there anyway."

"I'm afraid that won't be happening either," Hasook responded, confusing the girl. "Chief Arnook has closed off the entire North Pole to outsiders for the time being. No one's getting in under any circumstances."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: There you go, Chapter 13. Hope you liked it and, again, I apologize for the break in updates. We're finally getting back into some action, though the next chapter may not quite get into all the really heavy stuff. There will be some action going down though; I promise. Really quickly I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and again apologize for not responding to each one. I'm no longer going to bother addressing romance in the AN's, just know that the relationships will go wherever they go. If you are rooting for a pairing, I have a couple new stories up, one Zutara and one that is non-romantic Suki/Zuko.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll try to be better about updating,**

**-Boredone32**


	14. Chapter 14

**Inner Strength**

**Chapter 14**

**Author's Note: Not a lot of The Waterbending Master will be changed as far as the Gaang is concerned, but I am still writing out a decent bit of it, but I'm not bothering to try and keep it canon in terms of dialogue. There are some slight changes, but nothing too big. Major changes to the Siege of the North though, as you'll see in the next few chapters.**

* * *

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"What do you mean, 'closed it off'?" Zuko demanded, angrily stepping forward and finally entering the conversation.

"I mean they are refusing to open the gates to any outsiders," the man responded coolly.

"Look," Zuko started forcefully. "We have important information about a Fire Nation invasion for the leader of the Water Tribe. He needs to be told-"

"We know about the invasion," Hasook interrupted. "That's why we're here. The question is, how do _you_ know about it?"

Zuko blinked in confusion. _How could they know?_ "Why would you be here if you know about the invasion?" he asked, ignoring the warrior's question. "You should be at the North Pole preparing your defenses."

"We don't need to. We're going to cut off the invasion here, so it never reaches the Northern Water Tribe at all." Zuko looked around the warriors' camp. There were maybe eight ships worth of men, nowhere near enough to take down even a tenth of the fleet that would be sent their way.

"You don't have enough soldiers here," he stated bluntly. "How are you going to take out a fleet of Fire Navy vessels?"

The older man laughed at him. "A fleet? I don't think two warships counts as a fleet. You still haven't answered my question, though. How do you know about the invasion?"

"They're sending more than just two ships," Zuko replied, once again completely ignoring the man's question. "The Fire Navy is sending practically everything they have." The man laughed again.

"I don't know where you're getting your information, boy, but frankly I'm tired of this. Our spies in the Fire Nation gave us the Navy's entire plan, including a map of the course they plan to take. If you honestly think I'm going to believe some random Earth Kingdom couple over our own Intel, you're insane."

The man turned back to his camp, wordlessly dismissing Zuko. "You're making a mistake!" he called, his temper rising. "I'm telling you, my uncle-"

Suki's elbow in his back stopped the boy short. "Zuko, don't," Suki whispered. "We can find another way into the North Pole; don't blow our cover. We won't be able to explain how we know what we know without revealing that you're Fire Nation, and then they won't trust us. Let's just move on," she reasoned.

Zuko sighed, nodding and following the girl away from the camp. "Do we still have that mask?" he asked her.

Suki turned, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Nothing, really. I've just got something I need to steal."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"We should be getting close by now; look at all this ice." Aang squinted, scanning the horizon for any sign of the Northern Water Tribe.

"Well, if it's like the South Pole, it might be hard to find," he replied. Sokka mumbled in agreement.

"I always heard it was a lot bigger," Katara interjected from Appa's saddle. "I'm sure we'll see it soon."

"Still," Sokka started, suspiciously scanning the icebergs surrounding them. "We should've have seen some sign of people by now…"

As if on cue, a large wave of water sprung to life in front of Appa, who swerved hard to try and avoid it. As they passed the water froze, and a second wave soon joined it. Aang tried to guide Appa upward, but the bison's foot caught the tip of the oncoming ice, sending them crashing into the water below. Before Appa could react, the water surrounding him froze, stopping the group from moving at all.

They looked around in confusion until six Water Tribe ships appeared from their icy hiding places. "They're waterbenders," Katara said, her excitement obvious. "We did it; we found the Northern Water Tribe."

"Who are you?" one of the men called. He was an older man, with a short, white, pointed beard, a long, thin mustache, and long hair.

"They're probably Fire Nation spies," one of the men shouted behind him.

"We're not spies," Aang assured cheerfully. "I'm Aang, the Avatar, and these are my friends, Katara and Sokka, of the Southern Water Tribe."

The older man stroked his beard for a moment, apparently thinking. "I assume you have some way to prove such a claim?"

"Sure," Aang replied, bounding down from Appa's head and onto the ice that surrounded the beast. "Check this out," he said, jumping into the air with his glider. He flew circles around the awestruck Water Tribesmen, laughing at their expressions of disbelief.

He finally landed on the bow of the older man's ship, only two feet in front of the white haired waterbender. "It's an honor to meet you," the man stated, his voice hardly matching his sentiment. "Please excuse our misjudgment, and follow us."

Aang nodded and bounded back to Appa, who was promptly unfrozen by the Water Tribe men and escorted to the Water Tribe gates by two of the ships that had captured them.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He crept silently across the sand, using the cover of darkness to conceal him as he moved closer to the Water Tribe camp. He'd need to be careful once he was close enough to their campfire, but he had a plan for that. The men were completely oblivious to his presence; apparently they were very confident in their safety, as they didn't even have men standing guard on the outskirts of the camp. He crouched behind one of the tents on the outskirts, trying to figure out where the leader of the small group of warriors was staying.

There was an especially large tent near the middle of the camp, which Zuko decided was probably his best bet. The problem was he would have to get past a good half of the Water Tribesmen just to get to it. He peeked around the edge of the tent, looking for a path to take that would provide the most cover. He had two options.

He could go around the camp to the other side and hope there was a simpler path there, or he could attempt to sneak through from his current position. There were two more tents between him and his target to hide behind, but the gap between the second and final tent was huge, and the area was well lit by the campfire most of the men were gathered around.

Zuko took a deep breath, steadying himself and setting his mind on his decision before taking off. He moved quickly and silently, the sand of the beach providing easy and reliable footing, though it slowed his pace a bit. He got behind the first tent with no issue, and waited there as he heard muffled voices chatting inside. After a moment of listening, he decided that the men had not heard him and focused on moving on.

The next tent was close, but he could hear at least two warriors talking somewhere to his right. He waited silently, hoping to try and determine what they were doing and whether or not they would move at some point. "I just don't get it," one of the men said. "He's only been playing Pai Sho for a couple weeks, but he still beats me every time."

The other man laughed. "Maybe you're just stupid," he replied. Zuko rolled his eyes. He hated that stupid game. Shaking his head and focusing back on his mission, Zuko snuck around the tent to look at the men that were now arguing about who was smarter. The debate was getting heated, and Zuko thought there was a chance he could slip by unnoticed while they yelled at each other. He moved like lightning, shooting to the next tent with a speed that even surprised himself a bit.

He dove behind the tent and waited, steadying his breathing as he listened for any sign of someone having detected him. After a few seconds of hearing no reaction, the firebender decided that he was safe to check his surroundings once again. He had reached the tough part of his journey, a nearly fifty meter gap between him and the largest tent, with the light from the campfire outlining his path perfectly.

Zuko took a deep breath, listening to the chatter of the men around the fire as he tried to get a feel for his element. He was far away, but the fire was small, and he figured he might be able to control it if he could focus hard enough. If he could put it out like he did to the fire back on Kyoshi, he might be able to get to his destination under the cover of darkness, and maybe even have time to escape in the ensuing chaos.

The fire called to him, like a small, faint heartbeat just asking for guidance, begging to be controlled. He focused all of his attention and energy into his breathing, fighting to control the flame he could barely see. He felt the flames rising and falling, breathing steadily. His eyes shut as he tried to synchronize his breathing with that of the fire. At first it refused to do his bidding, resisting his control, but he didn't give up. Focusing harder, he slowly started to win over the flames, and soon his breathing was in a steady rhythm with that of the fire, the flames rising and falling with his chest as he continued to focus.

Unfortunately, Zuko couldn't kill the fire slowly, as the warriors would get suspicious and have time to react. He took in one last deep breath before throwing his arms down and exhaling, trying to bend the flames he couldn't even see. Darkness enveloped the beach and he smirked, taking off toward the tent as the men erupted into a panic.

He stopped at the entrance to the tent, trying to determine if anyone was inside. Just as he was about to go in, he heard footsteps coming toward him, and the man he and Suki had spoken with walked out, trying to figure out why his men were all freaking out. Zuko slunk into the tent behind the man and quickly took in his surroundings as well as he could with limited visibility. There was a desk near one of the walls, which Zuko quickly approached. Sitting on the middle was an open map of the northern half of the world, including parts of the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and the entire Northern Water Tribe. A route was marked across the map, and Zuko took it, smirking behind his blue and white mask._ Too Easy._

He rolled up the map and tucked it into his belt before making his way out of the tent. "Just restart it and calm down." Zuko's eyes widened and he quickly dove to the side, just out of the way of the Water Tribesman coming back into the tent, holding a lantern in his right hand. "Idiots," he mumbled under his breath, walking back to his desk. Zuko didn't have time to take precautions, so he merely sprinted out of the opening as fast as he could.

He got outside and found the men clambering around the dead fire, trying to restart it in a panic. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and took off toward the outskirts of the camp.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"This place is amazing," Katara mused as she, Sokka, and Aang rode through the city on Appa's back as he swam alongside the icy walkways. "It's so much bigger than the South Pole," she added.

"And there're so many waterbenders," Aang pointed out. "We'll be able to find a master to teach us in no time."

Katara smiled and nodded in agreement, her excitement to begin her training bubbling. "You don't seem impressed, Sokka," she observed.

"It's cool and all," Sokka responded, his tone serious. "But where are they taking us?" Katara thought to herself for a second, but came up with nothing.

"That's a good question… what do you think, Aang?" She turned to the young airbender, but he was no longer sitting next to her on the bison's back. She looked around and quickly found him on one of the two ships that was escorting them through the city, talking to a man at the front of one of the boats.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're taking you to Chief Arnook," the man replied. "The Water Tribe is currently closed to outsiders, but the chief may make an exception for you, since you are the Avatar."

"Wait, why is the Water Tribe closed off?" Aang asked, apparently angering the man he was questioning.

"We've recently gotten word of a potential threat from the Fire Nation, and we are preparing our defenses in case our assault party cannot defeat the Fire Navy's forces."

"How do you know the Fire Nation is going to attack?" Aang questioned. The man took a deep breath, clearly trying to keep his temper as he became progressively more annoyed at the boys questions.

"I'll let the chief fill you in on any detail he deems you need to know. For now, please just return to your… _bison_."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"I still don't understand," Suki pondered as she and Zuko looked over the map. "How could their spies have such detailed but… wrong information?"

"Well, either the Fire Nation got rid of their spies and sent the false information for them, or they know who the spies are and gave them bad information. Either way, this is completely wrong," Zuko responded.

"Why do it at all then? Wouldn't it be better to catch the Water Tribe off guard? Why would they warn their enemies ahead of time?"

Zuko sighed, he had learned about similar tactics being used in some of the earlier battles with the Earth Kingdom back when he studied the war at the palace. "They probably want the Water Tribe to underprepare. They gave them the idea that they would be attacked by a small force, so they will be overconfident. Plus, this way, they can split up the Water Tribe's forces."

"So you think they're going to attack the camp?" Suki questioned. Zuko nodded.

"I'm pretty sure that's the idea. Look," he said, pointing to the spot on the map that the Water Tribe camp was located. "They put dates here; they were basically telling the warriors when they would be vulnerable and stopped. My guess is they expected the Water Tribe to try to intercept them here, and are going to attack from a distance when the warriors aren't ready."

"It says they'll be here in two days," Suki pointed out. "You think they're going to attack tomorrow?"

Zuko nodded again. "Probably, but they would need cover to get a ship close enough to fire on their camp without being seen."

"Would they be able to strike from there?" Suki asked, pointing to a spot just around the bend of the beach to the west. There was a large rock formation blocking vision from around the corner; the Water Tribe Warriors had probably decided it would be a good spot to hide before attacking the ships.

"Uh, maybe with the catapults," Zuko said, trying to think of what his strategy would be if he was the commander in charge of the mission. "But those are unreliable, and they can't be sure of where the camp is. Even if they could hit, one or two shots wouldn't take out the entire camp," he stated.

"But it could still do damage, and then they could just come out and fight the rest of them, right?" Zuko's eyes widened, slowly turning toward the forest behind them. He stood up and looked toward the rocks, squinting to try and see out into the darkness. "Zuko?" Suki asked, confused.

"Do you see that?" Zuko asked, pointing to the sky. "There's a line where you can't see any stars in the distance." Suki squinted, but nodded after a moment.

"Yeah… almost like a cloud. Or…" she trailed off, her eyes widening in realization. "Smoke."

"I think they're going to send a scout to find out where the camp is, and then aim for the ships. That way the Water Tribesmen will have to retreat into the forest. There they can ambush them." Suki nodded.

"Makes sense, but they won't be able to see far enough in the dark, right?"

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose in anger, realizing that they were at a major disadvantage already, especially since the Water Tribe wouldn't listen to them. "They're just using the darkness to get by without their smoke being visible; the only reason we saw it is because we knew where to look. They'll probably hide their troops in the forest overnight and attack early in the morning."

"We have to warn the warriors," Suki said. Zuko nodded in agreement, though he was all but certain they wouldn't listen.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Ah, I figured we'd be seeing you two again," Hasook said as Zuko and Suki approached the camp. "It's awfully late."

"You're in danger," Zuko said, foregoing the use of pleasantries. "You need to get out of here and head back to the Water Tribe. The Fire Nation is already surrounding you from the east and south. Tell them that the invasion force will be far larger than they expect, and they need to prepare for war."

The man scoffed and shook his head. "I told you, I'm not listening to your crap." Zuko sighed in frustration. He was not ready to back down, but he was getting angry. "By the way, we seem to have… _misplaced_ our map. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Hasook asked, clearly accusing the firebender.

"Here's your damn map," Zuko said, tossing the roll of paper at the man haphazardly. "You have more important things to worry about, and I'm not asking you to listen; I'm telling you." Hasook laughed at the demanding tone of the firebender's voice, but Zuko wasn't fazed.

"And who are you to order me around?" he countered, staring down the younger man.

Zuko glared back, meeting his stare with no sign of backing down. "You can listen to what I'm telling you or you can sentence yourself, your men, and your tribe to their deaths." Zuko could feel Suki pulling on his shoulder, probably concerned about the way he was handling the situation, but he didn't care. "If you're going to sit here and get yourself killed, at least let me take one of your ships to try and help save the people who can't choose whether or not to follow your idiocy."

The older man blinked in shock, but his surprise quickly turned into anger. "I'm done listening to you, boy. This is your last chance to leave here, and frankly, after you stole our maps, I should be executing you anyway. Take advantage of this opportunity, before I change my mind." Zuko's lip curled in anger, but the rest of the Water Tribe warriors began readying their weapons, and he realized that he and Suki would be badly outnumbered if he started a fight.

"_Lee,_" Suki whispered forcefully behind him. "They're not our enemy; let's just go." Zuko continued his staring contest with the leader of the warriors, his anger and pride demanding he stayed, while all common sense told him to follow the girl's advice. A few tense seconds passed in silence before the firebender scoffed, turning to walk away.

"And don't come back," the man called after them. "I don't want to see either of you again."

Zuko and Suki continued walking away, though the firebender barely fought back the urge to turn and attack the arrogant warrior. "What do we do now?" Suki asked. "They're going to get killed." Zuko sighed, knowing that, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't let the men get massacred.

"We sabotage the ship."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Katara laughed as her brother shoved an asinine amount of food in his mouth, failing miserably at maintaining whatever dignity he still retained after his come-on to the princess. "Do an… activity?" she asked, a bit confused and more than a bit amused.

Sokka swallowed the food in his mouth, and Katara tried to contain her laughter as he turned back to the white-haired girl. "Yeah, you know. Like, we could do… a thing, at a place… some time." The princess giggled and Sokka blushed, once again failing miserably at talking to the girl.

"Sure, I'd love to." Katara figured the girl must be accepting the date out of pity, but she showed no signs of it. Sokka looked shocked at her answer, causing Katara to laugh at him once again.

"How cool is this?" Aang asked from his seat to her right. "They throw us a feast and we get to start waterbending training tomorrow. Isn't that awesome?" Katara smiled and nodded at the monk.

"Yeah, it's cool, but… I'm a bit worried still." Aang laughed cheerfully, clearly not as concerned.

"Katara, relax. Like they said, it's just two Fire Navy ships. They probably won't even make it here, and they certainly won't get past the wall." Katara sighed, still unconvinced.

"Doesn't that seem weird to you, though? Why would the Fire Nation send such a small force if they knew it wouldn't do anything?" she pressed.

"I was thinking the same thing," Sokka said, joining the conversation. "Something doesn't feel right here." Aang sighed.

"Guys, it'll be fine. The Water Tribe has it all under control. Let's just focus on our training, okay?" Katara wanted to argue, but the boy had a point. They wouldn't be able to do much if the Fire Nation did attack, and said attack wasn't there yet anyway. For now, the best thing they could do is accomplish the task they set out to, and learn waterbending from Pakku.

"I guess you're right, Aang," the waterbender finally relented.

"Wait, then what am I supposed to do while you guys splash around all day?" Sokka asked.

Katara glared at him, annoyed at his lack of support for her dream of mastering her element. "Well, I suppose you could always do… an activity," she taunted. Sokka's expression dropped into one of annoyance.

"Ha, funny," he replied clearly not entertained.

"Oh, that's a great idea," Aang chimed in. "You could do it at a place… at some time." Katara and Aang broke down laughing while Sokka glared.

"You guys are hilarious, really."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

They sat quietly beside the warship, waiting patiently for the moment to strike. Zuko had once again donned his Blue Spirit disguise, while Suki wore a darker set of clothing. The warrior had no weapons, but if everything went well, she wouldn't need one. They had been waiting nearly half an hour when the bridge finally opened.

"Assault team, move quietly into position in the force," a man commanded. "Be ready to ambush the survivors as soon as the sun rises." A group of about twenty soldiers filed down and out of the ship, walking across the beach toward their destination. Suki started toward the entrance, but Zuko's hand stopped her.

"Not yet," he whispered, his mask fixated on the entrance to the massive vessel. The men were already at least thirty yards away; there's no way they would hear her and Zuko if they made their move. The door started to close and Zuko released his hand. "Now," he commanded, taking off toward the ship.

They sprinted up, getting into the ship just as it closed. Zuko pinned Suki against the back wall, searching frantically to see if they had been seen or heard. The man who had been giving the orders was walking away, apparently having not noticed the unwanted visitors on his ship. He turned down a hallway up ahead, and Zuko released his grip on her once again. "You know what to do, right?" he asked her.

Suki nodded. "One floor up, second left turn, first right, and then the third door on the left." Zuko nodded, confirming the directions once again.

"Wait for the signal, then move quickly. Meet up at our spot; I'll give you plenty of time to get away."

"Be careful," she said as Zuko started away. He turned back, the hollow eyes of his mask staring back at her.

"You too." He took off down the hall, following the path the commander had taken.

"What the-" She heard the man's voice from down the hall, but it was cut off by the sound of what was likely the man's back hitting the hard metal wall. Suki stayed still, waiting nervously as she listened for signs of the other soldiers on the ship. The minute she waited felt like an eternity, and she hated not knowing how things were going on Zuko's end.

_BOOM!_

A loud explosion sounded from somewhere above her, hopefully the deck. "Hey! Get him!" she heard a man yelling.

"Everyone, to the deck! He's heading outside!" Suki heard panicked footsteps coming from above her, but still she knew she needed to wait. The sounds of a battle could be heard above her, and her nervousness was multiplied tenfold. The shouting grew quieter, and when she was all but certain everyone was at least two floors above her, the warrior shot into action.

She sprinted to the ladder and climbed it quickly, making her way up to the second floor. She ran down the hall, turning at her second left and then her first right, coming to a long, thin hallway that seemed to stretch the entire length of the ship. She reasoned it was probably the crew's quarters and continued down the hallway, counting the doors until she reached the third on the left.

"Hold on; I need to get my armor!" The voice came from her left, and not having time to think, Suki dove into the door to her right.

"Why aren't you wearing it? You knew we were attacking in less than an hour," came a second voice.

"I overslept! The invasion doesn't leave for two weeks; sorry for resting while I still have the chance!" the first man yelled back. Suki heard the door across the hall open and the sound of someone wrestling with heavy gear.

"Just hurry up! This crazy bastard is looking like he might actually win." Suki smiled; that was positive news at least.

"Yeah, well, he sure picked a good time to attack," the man called, closing the door. "The better half of our men left for the forest," he said, sprinting down the hall.

Suki waited for his footsteps to die down before cautiously exiting the room she was in. She opened the door across the hall and struggled to pick up the gear she needed. She grabbed one of the chest plates, but was surprised when she tried to lift it. Fire Nation armor was heavy. She picked up the gear, realizing she probably wouldn't be able to carry all she needed. It was too bulky.

Figuring her best bet would be to carry one set and wear another, Suki quickly began struggling to put the gear on as fast as possible. Zuko wouldn't be able to keep fighting too much longer.

_BOOM!_

Another loud explosion sounded above her and the entire ship shook for a moment. The girl was surprised by the sudden movement, but when the sound of fighting continued above her she refocused on her task. It took far longer for Suki to put on the gear than it had the soldier, but she had never worn such bulky armor before. Taking care to get stuff that was about the right size, she grabbed a second set of gear and made her way to the exit again.

Her movements were slowed significantly by the weight of the two sets of armor she was transporting, but the warrior managed it. She opened the hull of the ship and ran as fast as she could down, noticing the sun rising as she reached the beach. She tried to look back and see where Zuko was fighting, but the only thing she could make out was a lot of smoke. Unfortunately, some of it was coming from a second ship, one she and Zuko hadn't planned for.

She had to hope that Zuko had managed to destroy the first catapult, but she had no idea how he could possibly do anything about the second. She tried to think of something she could do, but there was no way for her to get onto the other ship, and certainly not in time to get to the deck and destroy the catapult before it could fire. The second ship wasn't docked on the beach, and there was no way she'd be able to swim to it with all the additional weight she had, so her best bet was just to pray that Zuko could do something about it.

Realizing there was nothing she could do and that Zuko wouldn't be able to stall much longer, the Kyoshi Warrior turned away from the warships and began heading toward the forest, trying to reach the cover before anyone saw her escaping. Once she reached the forest's edge, she turned back to see if she had been followed, but what she saw was far more terrible than something as simple as a pursuer.

The second catapult had fired, and a large fireball was hurtling toward the Water Tribe camp.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**A/N: And that's the chapter, hope you liked it! Do not fret, Zuko's piece of their little scheme will be covered at the start of next chapter. Also, I thought about not posting this tonight, but today is the two year anniversary of me finishing my first story, No Turning Back Now, so I figured it was like… special or something… somehow. Whatever. Either way, it just means an earlier update, and a less thorough edit check on my part, so please excuse any mistakes, I'll try to fix them tomorrow. There is a poll for this story on my profile, please check it out and vote if you have the time.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**-Boredone32**


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